Future Ghosts • TWD

3. For the Better.

"What did ya need me for?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Daryl had almost forgotten that his point was to give her something to do to stop her from going to find Merle and David in the woods. "I'mma need more of 'em. Need ya ta go out and find me some sticks, 'bout the same width as these," he gestured towards his bolts.

Rosie almost smiled, filled with a small burst of purpose. She didn't have to sit around and wait for her dad to give her something to do; she had a job to do.

Daryl gave her back the bolt she was looking at before. "Here," he said, and she took it in her hands, "use that for reference. Best not lose it."

"Yes sir," Rosie said, nodding adamantly. She held the bolt tight in her hand and started off towards the woods behind Daryl and Merle's tent.

"Aye," Daryl's voice stopped her once again. "Go over that way," he pointed towards the woods on the other side of camp. "Merle an' David don't need ya scarin' all the food away."

With a short nod, Rosie went off in the direction she was told to, the bolt held securely in her right hand. She was on a mission, and she'd be damned if she didn't find at least thirty perfectly sized sticks for Daryl to make into bolts. She had a job to do and she was gonna do it well, even if she had to stay out there until the sun went down.

Though Rosie was dedicated to spending all day out there, she found almost forty perfectly sized sticks within an hour and a half. She didn't think it would be so easy. She was even a little disappointed to have finished her job so quickly, but her disappointment faded when she thought that maybe she could help Daryl make the sticks into bolts.

Rosie walked back to camp with some of the sticks in each hand. When she left the trees, she was surprised to see Shane and Lori rushing towards her. She scrunched her eyebrows together with confusion. Lori stood over her, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised with concern while Shane knelt down in front of her, scanning her arms for bites.

"Oh my god, Rosie," Lori said exasperatedly, placing an unwanted hand on Rosie's shoulder. Rosie shrugged it off and took a few steps backwards. "We hadn't seen you for hours and Carl said he saw you go into the woods. We were worried sick!"

To say Rosie was confused would be an understatement. She didn't think anyone in the camp knew she existed until she punched Carl. And even then, why would they be worried about her? She thought they ought to have hated her, but here they were, fussing over her as if she were their own child.

"Are you okay? What were you doin' out there, kiddo?" Shane asked her, standing back up on his feet.

Rosie glanced from him to the sticks in her hands and held them out in front of herself, showing the two worried adults what she was doing. They didn't understand, though. She could tell by the looks on their faces.

"Gettin' sticks," she said.

"You need to tell someone before you leave, sweetie," Lori said kindly. Rosie didn't like being called sweetie, but she let it go because she guessed that Lori was trying to be nice.

"Daryl knew," Rosie said. She wondered why they didn't think to ask him. He, Merle, and her dad were the ones she was around most, so why wouldn't they ask any of them? Maybe Daryl had left to go find Merle and her dad, she thought.

Shane sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Next time you go out there, you need to tell one of us. Me, Lori, Dale, Glenn," Shane listed off some of the people he knew best in camp. He didn't want to outright admit to the girl that he thought her dad was a very irresponsible parent, but he still wanted to get the point across that she had to tell someone else aside from her dad or the Dixons. "You shouldn't be goin' out there on your own in the first place."