I'm with You

I ate my chili and joined in on the conversations around me. I ignored the fact that Daryl was missing from the group. It seemed a bit rude to me since everyone else was here in the living room talking to each other and he was probably outside staying away from us. We were all acting like a family since we pretty much were. He was acting like that one family member that you never saw unless they needed something.

We all shared our holiday time stories once we were done eating. Everyone shared their best and worst presents they ever gotten and we would either laugh or agree. A few made it a competition to see who had the worst gift ever. Rick ended up winning since he literally got a box of coal one year for Christmas, or at least that's what he says.

Everyone soon began leaving to do their own thing after the conversation ended. Rick, Glenn, and Maggie went to be on lookout. Lori, Carl, Beth, and Hershel went upstairs to go to sleep. I stayed in the living room and talked to T-Dog and Carol for a little longer. I finally decided to go to bed an hour later since everyone else was besides the ones on watch.

I got to the bedroom and saw all the stuffed animals back on the floor. Every night I would pick them back up and place them on the bed. Daryl would knock them off once he went to sleep in the morning. I knew he did it on purpose. He probably thought he was too badass to be sleeping on a bed filled with stuffed animals. I, on the other hand, loved it. It made me feel safe like when I was a kid. Every night I would cuddle with a different stuffed animal. Tonight it was the white puppy.

Next morning I was being shaken awake roughly. I turned over and opened my eyes to see Daryl.

"Ya gonna get up an' be on watch?" he asked, getting pissed off at me.

"Gimme five more minutes." I murmured.

This wasn't the first time Daryl had to wake me up, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Most of the time I was up before dawn. At least once a week Daryl would be the one waking me up, and usually it was still dark out.

"Get up, ya slept long enough." Daryl said harshly before placing his crossbow down next to the bed.

"Jeez, I will get up." I groaned.

I slipped my boots on before grabbing my leather jacket off of the dresser and putting it on. I shook my head as Daryl pushed the stuffed animals to the floor and then got into the bed. I left the bedroom before he could say another word to me.

I ran into Maggie and Glenn when I got to the bottom of the stairs. I told them good morning before going outside and taking my seat in the chair on the front porch. I had no idea if Beth was awake yet, she most likely was since Maggie and Glenn were going to bed. That also meant that Carol would be getting up in the next few minutes. She and Lori usually made breakfast and brought it out for Beth and I.

"Daryl already inside?" Rick's voice came from the side of the house and it startled me. I thought he had already went to bed.

"Yeah, rudely woke me up." I frowned as I watched Rick make his way to the porch steps. I could barely make him out since it was one of those mornings where Daryl woke me up a little too early. The sun was just beginning to peak from the horizon.

"Sorry 'bout that." Rick apologized on Daryl's behalf.

"It's fine." I murmured. "Had to get up anyway."

Rick leaned against the house as he kept watch. Usually he would go in to sleep or at least talk to Lori for awhile.

"Aren't you going to go in?" I asked, trying to not sound rude. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy his company, it was that I was used to being out here alone in the mornings.

"I will in an hour or so. Gotta lot on my mind." Rick told me. I nodded my head, not wanting to push the subject any further. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.

It was silent between us as we kept watch. I would glance over at him every now and then and he would look like he was lost in thought. I knew it most likely had to do with Lori and the baby.

Within the hour, Rick went inside like he said he would. I was left outside in the cold by myself. It wouldn't be long before Carol or Lori brought me something to eat. I would sometimes protest that I wasn't hungry, but they would always tell me that I needed to eat so I did.

I was eating a granola bar that Carol brought to me not even ten minutes ago. It was some of the last of the food we had left. Maggie and Glenn were going on a run later today after they woke up.

The rustling in the woods was what caught my attention. I put the half eaten granola bar into my jacket pocket before grabbing my knife. I had just gotten off of the porch when I saw five walkers coming towards the house.

"Shit." I muttered before running inside and calling out to whoever was awake.

I ran back outside and towards the walkers. I knew that someone was behind me due to the footsteps I heard. The first walker was a young female. Her blonde hair was all matted up and clothes were dirty and shredded. I jabbed her in the eye with my knife before kicking her backwards with my right foot. I winced at the pain that shot through me. My ankle wasn't healed yet and still ached. but I usually ignored it. It was whenever I took a hard force that it would hurt.

After regaining my posture, I quickly killed the next walker that was closest to me. This one was an older male in an army uniform. He had short dark hair that was sticking out everywhere. I had stabbed him in the top of the head. I frowned at the dead man before looking around me. Rick was the one who came out and killed the other three walkers. Guess he still wasn't asleep.

"You alright?" he asked as he looked me over.

"Yeah, thanks for the help." I told him before walking back towards the porch that now had Carol, Carl, and Lori on it.

We heard a scream from behind the house. We knew that walkers were probably coming towards Beth since she was the one on watch back there. Lori, Carl, and Carol ran back through the house while Rick and I went around the house. There was another scream and I just hoped that we weren't too late.