❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter thirty-three ―― go away

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE SLOWLY PUSHED herself to her feet, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "You happy now?" She asked her brother before she kicked his side. "Stupid." Another kick. "Bastard." Another kick. "You son of a bitch." She kicked him again with each word, tears streaming down her face. "You-" She was cut off when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.

"Stop. Just breathe." Mason whispered next to her ear and she let her body go slack against his as she squeezed her eyes closed, her hand finding his over her stomach. "Just breathe." He repeated, squeezing her hand and Daryl tried to keep Carol from looking as he pulled her to her feet but she shook him off and started back towards camp. He couldn't stop his eyes from moving to Charlie as she leaned into Mason, she didn't make a sound but he could see the shake in her shoulders and the tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm okay." Charlie mumbled, lifting her head off his shoulder. "I'm okay." He slowly removed his arms from the girl, she wiped her cheeks as Shane pushed him off the ground. He dusted off his clothes before wiping the blood from his nose and he glanced at Charlie who had her back to him.

Beth cried, pulling away from Hershel, as she made her way towards the pile of corpses despite the others trying to stop her. Charlie squeezed her eyes closed as she started away from Mason, her feet dragging a little as she clenched her hand at her side. She felt the stitches pinch a little but the worst of the pain came from her knuckles – they were deep shades of red and one had a cut that was bleeding.

"You alright?" Daryl asked, his voice low as he stopped next to her, but before she could answer Beth screamed as the walker that was once her mother grabbed her. Everyone ran over, pulling the blonde from the walker and Charlie rushed towards them, pulling her knife out and stabbing the walker in the eye. It went limp and fell to the dirt when Charlie yanked her knife from his skull. Her hand still shook as she turned and made her way away from them.

"I'm fine." She mumbled, passing Daryl on her way back to camp, her bloodied knife still gripped in her hand. He watched her as she walked away, he knew she wasn't okay but he also wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to make her feel better. Mason stopped, his eyebrows pinched as he looked at Daryl. The older man had yet to look away from Charlie and Mason wasn't sure how he felt about that. When Daryl finally turned Mason could see the worry in his eyes, it wasn't very prominent but it was definitely there.

"Carol?" Charlie called out as she pulled the door of the rv open, she could hear the women crying so she lifted herself in the rv, dropping her bloody knife in the sink. "I'm sorry." Charlie spoke, her voice quiet as she leaned against the counter, her eyes on her boots that were covered in dirt. "I know that doesn't help, but, uh, I'm not really sure what to say. If you'll let me, I'd like to not say anything at all. But I got two arms and I'm a pretty decent hugger." Carol didn't say anything as she shifted on the bench then he patted the spot next to her and Charlie moved forward, sitting next to her and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Charlie kept her promise, she didn't speak as she held the older woman.

The door opened a few minutes later, Charlie no longer had her arms around the woman and she had moved to sit across from her and they both looked over when Daryl stepped into the rv. He didn't say a word as he lifted himself onto the small counter. Charlie shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her shins. She had stopped crying but the tracks her tears had left could be seen on her cheeks and her eyes were still red. Daryl looked from Carol and over at the brunette, his eyes landing in her bloody knuckles. When she noticed, she wiped them on her jeans but all that did was smear the blood along the back of her hand. She looked up at him, her brown eyes on his blue eyes, she simply shook her head. It was the only way she could admit that she wasn't okay, she couldn't say it out loud, and he knew that.

It was quiet. They just sat there and Charlie hated to admit it, but even though he sat on the counter not speaking, she felt more at ease with him there. The thought made her uncomfortable, the only other person that could put her at ease was Mason and she wasn't exactly sure why Daryl made her feel . . . safe. She shifted in her seat, resting her forehead against her knees so she didn't look up at him again, she had been looking at him for a while, she wasn't staring, she was just looking.

Charlie sat up when there was a lit tap on the door and Lori stepped into the rv. "They're ready." Carol simply shook her head and Charlie looked over at the woman, not moving her legs. "Come on."

"Why?"

"'Cause that's your little girl." Daryl answered.

"That's not my little girl." She shook her head, her eyes meeting Charlie's before she looked up at the man that had yet to move from the counter. "That's some other thing." She dropped her head before looking out the window. "My Sophia was alone in the woods. All this time I thought. . . she didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago." Lori stepped out of the rv and walked away and Charlie took a breath before looking up at Daryl, she nodded her head and he pushed himself off the counter before leaving the two women alone.

"That's bullshit, I'm sorry but it is." Charlie mumbled, unfolding her legs as she pushed herself up and Carol looked up at her, shock clear on her face. "She wasn't dead, not before she walked out of that barn. I mean, logically, yeah, she was dead when she got bit. But we didn't know, she was still alive. I thought-" She faltered. "She was alive, because we all thought she was. So I'm gonna go say my goodbyes because, for me, she wasn't dead until she stepped out of the barn." Charlie wiped her cheeks, smearing her tears and the dirt that had collected on her skin. "I get it. This is how you're coping, and it's not wrong, but that doesn't mean you're right either." With that Charlie left, leaving the woman alone.

>>>>> • <<<<<

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE RAISED HER BOW, her eyes narrowed as she aimed at the tree she and Daryl had been using as target practice just the day before. She let out a breath, letting the string go and the arrow flew right by the tree before embedding itself in the ground. The brunette groaned, it had been the fourth time she missed the tree and hit the dirt. She dropped her bow and made her way towards the arrows that were sticking out of the ground and she collected them before turning and making her way back towards her bow. She let the arrows fall from her hand as she squatted down to get her bow, she grabbed an arrow then stood up straight, loading the bow then she heard a noise behind her and turned, aiming right at the person that stood there with his arms raised slightly.

"Woah, hey! Not dead. You can put that down now." He let his hands fall to his side and she rolled her eyes as she turned back to the tree and let the arrow fly, it missed the tree.

"What do you want, Josh?" She asked as she bent over to grab another arrow.

"I'm worried about you." He shrugged, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "I saw your face when Sophia walked out of the barn, haven't seen you much since we buried her."

"That's kinda the point." She muttered as she loaded her bow and pulled back. She released the string and the arrow grazed the tree, making the girl huff as she dropped her bow to the ground.

"You okay?"

"I'm doing swell." She gave him a fake smile before she crossed her ankles and sunk to the ground before she laid back, her eyes closed as she used her right arm as a pillow. "You can leave me alone now."

"Let me know if you need anything." He lightly kicked her boot before he turned and walked away and the girl let out a huff as she let her body relax against the ground. It was uncomfortable but the sun felt nice and the breeze kept her cool enough. It was quiet for a while, tears had pricked her eyes, but she kept the sobs at bay. She wiped her eyes when she heard footsteps but she didn't bother sitting up or opening her eyes.

"Go away."

"Thought you might want this back." She opened her eyes, squinted against the sun as she sat up to see Daryl squatting next to her as he held the handle of her knife out to her. "Saw in the sink, cleaned it up."

"Thanks." She mumbled as she took it from him and leaned back a little to put it in its sheath.

"Do you really wanna be alone?"

"Yes." She nodded and he raised an eyebrow at her, making her sigh. "No." She chuckled a little, shaking her head. "You gonna keep me company?"

"Who else?" He shrugged as pushed himself up. "Come on." He held his hand out to her and she took it, letting him pull her up. They collected the arrows and her bow then she followed him to a brick structure that has seen better days, it was so far from the farm that they couldn't see the house and she smiled a little as he sat down. She sat under a tree and slouched against it with her feet stretched out – she was only a few feet away from him.

The two were quiet, neither really said anything, which is another reason she appreciated his company – he didn't ask questions that she didn't really have an answer to. She opened her eyes and looked over at him as he sharpened his knife and she pulled hers out, running her thumb along the blade, it had gotten dull and she hadn't really had time to sharpen it.

"Mind doing mine?" She asked and he looked over to her head knife in her hand before she tossed it up and caught the handle.

"Sure." He shrugged before looking back at his hands and the girl pushed herself up a little, the blade in her hand then she tossed it and it embedded itself in the ground inches from his feet, he stopped and looked over at her, his eyebrow creased. She just smiled at him, it was wide and it made the corner of his lips twitch upwards, as she slouched against the tree again, her legs crossed at her ankles and her fingers laced together over her stomach.