Fighter

~209

A few days later, Daryl’s wounds had started to heal nicely, enough so that Hershel suggested he be moved from the house into his own tent. There he would still be on bed rest, but only for another couple days, and in the comfort of his own sanctuary. It was also Hershel’s way of giving the group a quite literal shove out the door.

Isabell had helped him down onto his cot earlier that morning, however, now, she had to make sure that Daryl was set while she was out for the day. She was worried about him being cooped up in the tent for so long. Isabell knew that Daryl didn’t do well just sitting around. Isabell sat on the ground next to the cot Daryl was laid on. She sighed. “Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Isabell asked him.

“Yeah.” He said, simply, fidgeting with the bolt that he held in his hands.

“This isn’t one of those things where you can just decide to be done layin’ around and get up.”

“I know.”

“You have to keep off your feet so you don’t tear open them stitches.”

“You would know all about that.” He joked.

Isabell groaned. “In my defense, we were kinda on the run for our lives when I had my stitches. There wasn’t much I could do ‘bout that.”

Daryl showed Isabell a small smirk.

“I’m serious, Daryl. If you so much as take one step out of the tent, I swear I’ll - ”

Daryl interrupted her. “You’ll what? You’ll stab me yourself?”

“Maybe.” Isabell smiled. “If it comes to that. That wound in your side… It’s so much worse than others that you’ve gotten.”

“Okay. I won’t leave.”

Isabell smiled and sighed. “Alright. Let’s get that shirt changed. I’ll wash it later.”

“It ain’t laundry day.”

“Maybe I’m feelin’ domestic today.” Isabell snapped, moving onto her knees to help Daryl sit up. Once he had sat up straight and was able to hold himself up, Isabell turned to grab his backpack to find a shirt. She found a flannel that she remembered liking before the outbreak hit. Isabell smiled, pulling the flannel from the bottom of the backpack.

“Iz, wait.” Daryl said, swinging his legs around to the side of the cot.

Isabell grabbed the collar of the shirt, letting the shirt fall from it’s tight fold. As it unfolded, something fell from it onto the ground. Isabell furrowed her brows and reached for it. It was a couple of polaroid pictures. One was of Isabell holding Harley when she was just born. The other was of her hugging her daughter from behind, outside on their house’s porch. Isabell observed the photos for a silent moment, hardly recognizing the people in the pictures.

“Izzy?”

Isabell looked up at Daryl with shock written clean across her face. The shock faded quickly and she smiled and laughed quietly. “I’m sorry. I - just - Where did you get these?”

Daryl looked from her to the pictures. “They were in the truck.” He mumbled. “Glove compartment.”

Isabell stared at the photos again and started to feel a large lump in the deep pit of her throat.

“Iz, are you okay?” He asked.

She nodded, biting her lip. “I… I was starting to forget what she looked like.”

Daryl scooted towards the edge of the cot so that he could reach out and grab onto her arm to pull her towards him.

Isabell didn’t hug him, but she kneeled herself between his legs, looking down at the pictures between them. “Why did you tell me that you had these?”

“I’m tryin’ my hardest not to talk about Harley ‘round ya. ‘Specially with Sophia missin’. Ya always get quiet and you bein’ quiet can be dangerous.”

“I’m sorry.” She said, sympathetically. “Ya still shoulda let me know. Damn therapists on tv always said that grieving is easier with the people around you.”

“We didn’t get much time to grieve.” Daryl pointed out.

“Nah, we didn’t.” Isabell turned back around to fold the pictures back into Daryl’s shirt. “I told Carol about her. Obviously.” She took a deep breath. “And I accidently let it slip yesterday before dinner that I had a kid.”

Daryl furrowed his brow. “So?”

“So…” She trailed off for a moment. “I wasn’t sure if you were okay with people knowing about her.”

Daryl shrugged. “The more people that know about her, the more she’ll be remembered.”

Isabell looked up to Daryl, lovingly. “You’re pretty smart Daryl Dixon.”

“I know.”

“Knock, knock.” A voice called from outside the tent.

Both Daryl and Isabell’s heads moved towards the entrance of their tent.

Andrea was standing outside, with her bag over her shoulder and a book in her hand. “Hey, can I come in?” she asked.

Isabell shifted closer to Daryl, helping him lay back on the cot. “If I say no, would you shoot me?” She mocked, sitting down at the head of the cot.

“No.” Andrea said, not really appreciating the joke.

Daryl smacked Isabell lightly with the bolt in his hands. He jerked his head, motioning for Andrea that she could enter the tent.

Andrea took a few steps into the tent, holding the book out to Daryl. “This is not that great, but…” She waited for him to take the book from her. Once he had, she crouched down next to Isabell.

Daryl thumbed through the book. “What, no pictures?”

Andrea stared at Daryl for a moment, before speaking again. “I’m so sorry.” She said.

Isabell scoffed.

“I feel like shit.” She continued, ignoring Isabell.

“Yeah, you and me both.” Daryl fluffed his pillow so he could sit up a bit more.

Andrea shook her head. “I don’t expect either of you to forgive me, but if there’s anything I can do...”

“Yeah, actually - ”

Daryl interrupted Isabell. “You were trying to protect the group.” He stressed. “We’re good.”

“What?” Isabell asked, her head snapping towards Daryl with an angry look clear on her face. She did not do well to being ignored in this conversation.

Andrea nodded at Daryl and looked to Isabell. “We’re taking off for gun training pretty soon, if you were gonna join.”

Isabell rolled her eyes, but then nodded anyway.

“Glenn has some peaches, too, if you were interested.” Andrea said, standing up and exiting the tent.

“But hey,” Daryl called after her, making her stop just outside the tent. “Shoot me again, and you’d best pray I’m dead.”

“I’d never give her the chance to try again.” Isabell mumbled under her breath and Andrea left their line of sighed.

“Remember when you used to hold me back from starting fights with Harley’s friends’ parents?”

“This is not the same thing as that.”

“It is.” He stressed. “I’m fine. Move on from it, yeah?”

Isabell took a deep breath. “I’m not makin’ any promises, but I’ll try.”

“Good.”

“I’m gonna go see what the plan is. I’ll come back with a peach for you before we leave.” She pushed herself from the floor and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“Okay.”

Isabell walked out of her and Daryl’s shared tent, spotting Rick, Shane, and Jimmy standing against Carol’s Cherokee.

Shane whistles, looking in her direction. “Hey, peach man!” He shouts.

Isabell turned around, seeing Glenn behind her, talking to Lori. She furrowed her brow, confused. She never knew the two of them to be best buds, but she continued to the car, pushing the thoughts behind her.

Rick was talking as Isabell approached the car. “The creek flows south, past that farmhouse Daryl and Isabell found. Maybe Sophia dropped the doll there. The current brought it downstream.”

“So what?” Shane pointed to the map. “You think she took this road here, and then she went north?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what’s up north?” Isabell asked, inserting herself into the conversation. She and the men looked to Jimmy.

Jimmy thought for a moment, taking the map in. “Uh, a housing development. It went in, maybe, ten years ago.”

Rick looks to Shane. “Take a run up there after gun practice.” He tells the deputy. “I’ll hold down the fort here, but take backup. After what went down with Daryl, I don’t want anyone going out alone. We stay in pairs.”

“Whacha think, Iz. You wanna come with me?”

“No offense to your partner skills, but I think that it’s safer for me here.” Isabell snidely remarked. “Daryl’s on bedrest and someone’s gotta bring him food.”

Shane sighed. “I’ll take suggestions on a partner.”

“See how they do on the range.” Rick put forth. “Then take your pick.”

Glenn approached the car with the basket of peaches in his hands. Rick and Shane each take a peach from him, before he moves around the men to pass some to Isabell.

Isabell grabs two from the basket and studies Glenn. “Sorry about the Chinaboy thing the other day.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He said quickly.

“You okay?” She asked, noticing his jumpiness.

Glenn sighed and paused his movements, looking to Rick, then back to Lori behind him.

Isabell followed his gaze. “Glenn?”

Glenn looks back at the men and then to Isabell.

Shane spoke before Isabell could try to shake Glenn’s thoughts. “My binoculars.” He reminds the younger guy.

“Yeah.” Glenn remembered, setting his basket down. “Yeah.” He takes the binocular strap off of his shoulder and walks around Rick, hands the binoculars to Shane, and goes back for his peaches. “Okay, bye.” He said quickly.

“Glenn, hold up.” Isabell calls before he can get too far away.

Glenn paused in his place.

Isabell looked to Rick. “I’d like to help with the gun trainin’. I could take Daryl’s place until he’s back on his feet.”

“You sure?” Rick asked.

Shane shook his head. “Not sure how smart that is.” He remarked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use a gun.”

“I know how.” Isabell snapped in Shane’s direction. “Just don’t like to. They’re noisy.” She looks back at Rick. “Daryl taught me everythin’ I know and I taught my kid.”

Rick isn’t surprised to hear this, probably having learned it from Lori, however Shane is full of shock.

“Kid?” He asks.

“Yeah. My kid.” Isabell repeated, to which Shane raises his eyebrows.

“Thank you.” Rick said, nodding his head once. “We’ll be taking off soon.”

Isabell smiled in his direction and then took off after Glenn. She slow-jogged to him and put a hand on his elbow to grab his attention.

Glenn seemed to panic and pull away from her grasp sharply.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Isabell said quickly. “Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Glenn snapped.

“You don’t seem fine.”

“I’m okay.”

“Is there something that you want to talk about?” Isabell probed.

Glenn hesitated. “I don’t think I should.”

“Glenn, come on. I know the Chinaboy thing the other day was kinda shitty of me, but I was kinda messed up with Daryl bein’ shot.”

“It’s not that. I just - ”

“Then what?” Isabell forced. “What’s got you all jumpy. You’ve hardly said one word to anybody the past few days.”

Glenn bit his lip and looked away from Isabell.

“Is it Maggie?”

Glenn’s eyes shot to Isabell. “How did you - ”

“I know I’ve been preoccupied with mendin’ Daryl, but I make a point to notice things that happen around here.”

Glenn looks around the camp to see if anyone was staring at him.

“Glenn, do you remember that day that Carl was shot? I had that big freak out and I was talking about someone named Harley.”

Glenn nodded.

“Harley was my daughter. Mine and Daryl’s.”

“I didn’t know you had a kid.” Glenn seemed to relax, not having the focus on him.

“That’s because I’ve been really good at keeping it a secret. Until recently anyway. I had a chat with Carol about the other day, trying to make her feel like I know what she’s going through.”

Glenn paused. “How old was she?”

“She was ten.” Isabell told him. “She liked to go hunting with me and her dad. She was at my brother’s in the city for the weekend that the outbreak hit. We went back for her as soon as I saw the news. We couldn’t find her, but my brother’s apartment was covered in blood, so we put the pieces together.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“So you trust me. Because I know how it feels to have a huge weight on your shoulders and not be able to talk to anyone about it.”

Glenn sighed and looked around, seeing no other eyes on him. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone. Not even Daryl.” He thought for a moment. “Well, given his anger issues, you’d better make that especially Daryl.”

“Thirty-something years of knowing the guy and I promise you we both still have our secrets from each other.”

“There are walkers in the barn.”

Isabell furrowed her brow. “Walking walkers, or dead undead?”

“Walking walkers.” He clarified.

Isabell nodding, knowing that the barn was secure having taken time when the first arrived on the farm to scope the land out. “Okay. What else?”

“How do you know there’s more?”

“You haven’t loosened up your shoulders yet. You’re still carrying something.”

Glenn scoffed. “Lori’s pregnant.”

Isabell stumbled for the next words. “Uh - wow.” she took a step back. “Pregnant?” she questioned quietly.

Glenn nodded, barely moving his head. “She had me get a pregnancy test last time I went on a run into town.”

“What’s she gonna do?”

Glenn just shrugged. “She hasn’t made a decision.”

“Well, at least she’s got you. She shouldn’t make that decision on her own. It’s kinda a big deal.” Isabell showed his a one-sided smile. “I’m sorry you’ve got that weight.”

“It’s okay.”

“We can talk about this later?” Isabell asked. She gestured back to her tent. “I’ve got to get some food to Daryl before he starts complaining.”

“You’re not gonna tell him are you?” Glenn asked quickly.

Isabell shook her head. “Of course not. He won’t know until other people know.” Isabell started to walk away but stopped herself. “Just don’t say that you know anything specific about Harley. No one but you and Carol knows all of that.”

“I won’t.”
Isabell took a breath and nodded to him. She walked into the middle of the group’s camp. She noticed that Rick, Lori, Dale, and Shane were gathered in the center of the arc by a picnic table that Carl sat on. Isabell crouched down to his level. “Hey, bud.” she said with a smile.

“Hi, Izzy.” Carl replied grimly.

“You okay? What happened?”

“He stole a gun.” Lori said accusingly, frustrated at the situation. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to suck up to my son right now.”

“Lori…” Rick tried calming his wife.

Isabell shook her head at Rick. “It’s okay.” She stood from her crouched position and joined the group.

Lori turned back to the others. “What’s he thinkin’?”

“He wants to learn how to shoot.” Shane reasoned. “He asked me to teach him. No, it’s none of my business, but I’m happy to do it. It’s your call.”

“I’m not comfortable with it.” No one responded to Lori’s claim so she spoke again. “Oh, don’t make me out to be the unreasonable one here. Rick?” She looked to her husband.

“I know, I have my concerns, too, but - ”

“There’s no but. He was just shot. He is just back on his feet and he wants a gun?”

“Better than him bein’ afraid of ‘em.” Rick explained. “There are guns in camp for a reason. He should learn to handle them safely.”

There was a silence as everyone waited for Lori to continue. She didn’t, so Dale finally spoke up. “What’s your take, Isabell?” he asked, making everyone’s eyes go to her.

Isabell liked her lips. “You want my opinion?”

The group members nodded, even Lori after a moment.

Isabell sighed. “Daryl and I taught Harley just a year shy of his age. Last year for her ninth birthday.” she recalled.

“You would let your daughter walk around here with some random gun in her pocket?” Lori accused.

“No. She’d have her gun in her holster that I bought for her.” Isabell stressed. “We taught her how to use it safely. We also taught her how to protect herself if she had to.”

Lori shook her head at the blonde and then looked to Rick. “I don’t want my kid walking around with a gun.”

“How can you defend that?” Rick asked, gesturing to Isabell. “You can’t let him go around without protection.”

“He’s as safe as he’ll ever be right here.” She paused. “Look, everything you’re saying makes perfect sense. It feels wrong. I mean, I didn’t feel good about him following you out into the woods and I wish I’d said something. I should have gone with my gut.”

“He’s growing up. Thank, God.” Rick told Lori. “We’ve got to start treating him more like an adult.”

“Then he needs to act like one.” Lori pressed. “He’s not mature enough to handle a gun.”

“Maybe the little man should speak for himself,” Isabell suggested, earning a glare from Lori. She looked behind her to Carl.

Carl looked to Isabell and then to her mom. He stood from his spot on the picnic table. “I’m not gonna play with it, Mom. It’s not a toy.” Carl said. “I’m sorry I disappointed you, but I want to look for Sophia and I want to defend our camp. I can’t do that without a gun.”

Lori was at a loss for words.

Rick looked to her. “Shane’s the best instructor I know. I’ve seen him teach kids younger than Carl.”

Lori looked around to everyone, still very unsure of what to do. She took a deep breath and stepped around Isabell to get to her child. Lori grabbed his chin, gently forcing him to look at her. “You will take this seriously. And you will behave responsibly. And if I hear from anyone in this camp that you’re not living up to our expectations - ”

Rick interrupted Lori. “He won’t let you down.” Rick looked to Carl.

Carl looked to his dad and then his mom. “Yeah.”

Lori looked down at her son and put two hands on either side of his face, lovingly before she turned away.

Isabell turned, smiling down at carl and held out her fist.

Carl smiled back and bumped his fist with hers.

“Isabell.” Lori called, turning back around.

Isabell quickly dropped her fist, looking guiltily towards Lori.

“Can I talk to you for a second?”

Isabell nodded, joining Lori a little ways away from the group.

Lor spoke. “We’re different people. I get that.”

“We are.”

“And I have no idea if you taught your daughter that stealing and lying is how she get her way - ”

“It wasn’t.” Isabell chipped.

“Even so, Carl’s a good kid. And I don’t want to give him any ideas about how he needs to approach things.”

“I’m not giving him ideas about anything.” Isabell shook her head. “I was just trying to get you to at least hear him out.”

“I listen to my kid.”

“Do you?” Isabell questioned. “‘Cause what I saw was you talking about your son and asking the guys why he did it, instead of asking him why he did it.”

“He’s a child.”

“Who has grown up so quickly in the past few weeks. Even I’ve seen it. Carl has recovered from the accident so brilliantly. He knows what’s good and what’s bad, I’m certain of it. He’s a good kid with some good ideas. Listen to him.” Isabell snapped, taking her leave.