I'm with You

It's been two days since arriving at the house. Within those two days we had to kill only two walkers that stumbled onto the land around the house. We were lucky, but we all knew this wouldn't last for long, nowhere ever did. Almost all of our stuff stayed in the cars in case we had to have a quick getaway. We didn't really need it all anyway.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl spoke from the doorway of the bedroom I was in.

"Where?" I asked, not looking up from the word search I was doing. It was one of the few things I found in the house to keep myself preoccupied.

"Huntin'," Daryl said as he came into the room.

"I don't go huntin', Daryl," I murmured, glancing up from the word search that was half done.

"Ya barely leave the room," he frowned, glancing around the small bedroom.

I knew he was right. I claimed this room as mine, and nobody said a word about it. I've been staying in it since there wasn't anything to do. I was also trying to stay away from the arguments happening downstairs between Rick and Lori. They were both arguing once again about who knows what. I knew that the others did the same. Carl usually came up to the room to join me when it happened. I felt sorry for the kid since he had to listen to them bicker. Daryl was usually outside hunting food for us, since we were still low on food. The rest would be upstairs in one of the bedrooms or continuing what they were doing, but ignoring the fact that arguing was happening.

"Have my reasons," I finally told him before looking back down at the word search.

Daryl mumbled something before leaving the room. I heard the soft thuds of his footsteps going down the stairs before hearing the front door closing a few seconds later. My mind went back to searching for the next word on the list.

"They're arguin' again," Carl spoke as he entered the room, taking a seat at the end of the bed.

"I know, I can hear them," I groaned, placing the pencil in the book and setting it aside. "Do you know what they are arguin' 'bout?" Carl shook his head no.

I let out a sigh before looking around the bedroom. The peach colored walls were bare except for a few dusty picture frames hanging off of them. The picture frames held pictures of a girl in her early twenties with her family and friends. One of the frames had her high school graduation photo that said class of 2008. Another held a family photo that was professionally done. Her parents looked quite young in the photo, at least in their thirties. She had three younger brothers and a younger sister, all aged from around five years old to twelve years old. She had to be at least sixteen when it was taken, so she was the oldest.

"Do you miss your family?" Carl asked, noticing that I was staring at the family photo.

"Yeah, everyday. You're lucky, kid. They might argue, but at least you have your family still. Plus, you'll have a new brother or sister before long." I sent him a smile making him smile back.

"Do you think others have families still?" Carl asked, staring at the photo I had been looking at.

I shrugged. "I dunno why not. As long as they play it safe. Look at Maggie, Beth, and Hershel. They are family and they are still here."

"But they lost..." I frowned at Carl and he stopped talking.

"Everybody is gonna die someday, Carl. Some sooner than others." He looked down and nodded his head. "It was something that happened, and it's not anyone's fault."

"I know," he sighed. "I just don't wanna lose my mom or dad...or my little sister or brother."

"You won't, Carl. I can promise you that. Your dad will keep you safe, just like how he keeps everyone in this group safe. Everyone else in the group will also keep you safe. Nothing will happen," I smiled, even though I knew that something could happen.

"You're right," he smiled back before hugging me.

"Now go find your mom or dad and hug them. They aren't arguin' anymore," I told him as I hugged him back. He nodded before leaving the room to find one of his parents.

I had just got back to doing the word search when footsteps entered the room. I didn't look up since I knew it had to be one of the four people who actually came into my room: Daryl, Rick, Carl, or Glenn. Daryl was probably still out hunting, and Carl walked quieter. That left it to be Rick or Glenn...or someone else who hasn't talked to me since breakfast in the kitchen and wanted to talk to me, but I doubted it.

"What did you say to Carl?" Rick asked as he sat down on the end of the bed, exactly where Carl sat minutes before.

I glanced up at him to see that he was smiling some at me. Maybe Carl said something that made him happy, because I knew I didn't do anything. He had been arguing with Lori not even ten minutes ago, so the last thing I expected was to see a smile.

"He worries about you, Lori, and the baby," I answered Rick before looking back down at the word search. My eyes scanned the puzzle, looking for the word I needed as I kept talking. "Told him that everything will be alright."

Rick kept quiet as I crossed a line through the letters of the word I found. I marked it off of the list before glancing back up at Rick. Rick was staring out the window, lost in thought.

"He likes you, y'know," Rick told me and I smiled before replying with a 'mhm'. "I feel like I'm failing us all." Rick admitted, causing me to glance up again.

"Why?" I questioned, confused to why he would even think that.

"I want us all to be somewhere safe, somewhere where we could call a place home. Especially for Lori and the baby." Rick put his head in his hands. "I'm afraid I'm gonna lose Lori."

"What? You aren't going to lose anyone, especially your family." I frowned as he looked up at me.

Rick began explaining how they lost a few members of the group already and having to kill his best friend. He then explained Lori's pregnancy with Carl. I realized why he was afraid to lose more people, and especially Lori now.

I placed my pencil back into the word search book before setting it to the side once again. I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to think of something to say. Hell, I wasn't good at these things.

"Rick, it's not your fault you lost those people. You did what you had to do." I had to stop to think of a correct way to phrase stuff so it didn't sound bad. "Lori will be fine. We all will. We've survived this long."

Rick was staring as the floor as he listened to me talk. I tried to think of something to do next, but wasn't sure as to what. I finally gave him a hug, since it seemed like the right thing to do. He wrapped his arms around me and held me to his chest like I was the one who needed comforting. I felt really awkward, but didn't say anything. He let go before getting up and walking out of the room muttering something about us being fine. I stared at the doorway before shaking my head and laying back on the bed. I thought about going back to the word search, but would probably be interrupted again.