Future Ghosts • TWD

119. Assholes.

"No. No. There's not enough," Henry spoke for Rosie. He was aware of just how much Rosie hated Justin, because she didn't shy away from complaining about it. "You can't," he said.

"Give it a rest, kid," Justin said, shoving Henry back and taking the water cooler from him. Henry fell back onto the ground.

Rosie's stomach churned with anxiety, but her face burned with anger. She snatched the water cooler out of his hand, and just as she did, Henry got himself back up and swept his stick behind Justin's knees, knocking him on his ass. "Back off," Henry snapped at the man.

Several of the surrounding workers began laughing at him. "Hey, man, it's cool. I got my ass handed to me by a kid one time, too. Of course, I was six at the time," one of them joked.

While Henry grabbed the cooler from Rosie and began moving on to the next person, Rosie followed a few steps behind him, glancing back at Justin to see if he was going to do something else stupid. A few moments later, Justin got up and started marching angrily toward Rosie and Henry. When Rosie saw that he was focused on Henry, she shoved Justin backward. "Fuck off! It's just the rules," she said, trying to look more fierce than scared.

Justin grabbed Rosie by the arm, jerking her towards himself. "Hey! What did I tell you about respect, kid?!" he asked.

"I don't gotta respect no one, 'less they deserve it," Rosie spat, tugging her arm away.

"You think I gotta listen to you just because your daddy runs the Sanctuary?" Justin asked in a mockingly questioning voice. Rosie just narrowed her eyes at him, pretending that she was angry rather than afraid. Justin's hand lashed out, and for a second, Rosie was scared he was gonna hit her, but he didn't. He grabbed onto her by the back of her neck, his thumb on one side and his pointer and middle fingers on the other, squeezing. He pulled her face closer to his and Rosie was sure that her heart rate was through the roof. "You're a little girl. I don't have to listen to y-" Justin's sentence was interrupted by Rosie punching him in the face as hard as she could manage.

Before Justin could try anything else, his shoulder was grabbed and he was spun around. Daryl sent a punch to his jaw that was so hard it knocked Justin back onto the ground, into a pile of sand and sawdust. When Rosie saw Justin grabbing a handful of the sand, she shouted out in warning and grabbed onto his arm. Acting out of pure rage, Justin swung his arm back to get Rosie off of him, and his elbow slammed right up against Rosie's nose. As blood began to fall from Rosie's nose, Justin tossed the sand into Daryl's eyes. That's when the fight got really bad. They each began throwing punches and knocking each other back. Rosie was backed up, away from the two men, watching with wide eyes as they fought. She had her hands over her nose, trying to catch the blood and ease the pain, but it didn't work. More and more people began to gather around, watching the show.

It went on for about a minute before Rick showed up and started shouting, Break it up! Break it up right now! I said enough! Rick inserted himself between the two men, shoving them back and away from each other. While some of the other workers restrained Justin, Rick kept his hand on Daryl's chest, stopping him from getting to Justin.

"You put your hands on my daughter or any other kid again, I swear to God, I'll kill you. I'll cut your heart right outta your chest," Daryl growled, still glaring daggers at Justin as Rick held him off. "You hear me?!"

"Enough," Rick said, giving Daryl a stern look. Daryl still glared at Justin, but spat out some blood and began to walk away. Rosie looked up at Daryl with wide eyes as he walked past everyone. When he got to her, he put his hand on her back and began leading her away. Rosie's heart was still beating erratically, but she was taking deep breaths and trying to calm it down.