Daryl's Girl

Chapter 39

Leaving Maggie and Beth to sort things out, I made my way into the kitchen where Daryl and Briana offered to go find Hershal, leaving me with Lori and Andrea. I would've gone myself, but I owed it to Beth and couldn't leave the house knowing what kind of state she was in. She needed people around her, who cared for her, who loved her, to get her through the dark thoughts running round in her mind. Killing herself wasn't the answer.

I just stood and listened. The yelling from the two girls echoing through the house. The three of us just stood waiting, having nothing to say to one another. Although, I couldn't help but notice the weirdly disgusted looks on Andrea's face every time she looked at Lori. 

"Where's Hershal?" She finally said impatiently.

"Briana and Daryl have gone to find him." I told her. I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to know if Beth was alright. That she wasn't going to do something like this again.

"Maybe he shouldn't find out yet." Lori sighed, shoving a piece of cucumber into her mouth. "They're family. Let them work it out."

I rolled my eyes and sat down at the table, listening once again to the shouting coming from Beth's room. I'd be surprised if the others down at the camp couldn't hear the screaming.

"That's working it out?" Andrea scoffed.

"When Beth stops fighting. That's when it's time to worry." Lori replied, stepping forward, shoving another slice of cucumber into her mouth. This back and forth hostility between the two of them staring to irritate me. Both thinking they held some sort of authority in the room. I just had to try to ignore them. 

"This could've been handled better?" By this point, Andrea began getting restless and I could feel the tension building in the room as she spoke. "You shouldn't have taken the knife away."

So much for ignoring them. "Really?" I snapped, turning to face Andrea. Surely she couldn't be serious.

"You were wrong. Like Dale taking my gun. That wasn't your decision." She continued. I just scowled at her as she kept looking between Lori and myself. "She has to choose to live on her own. She has to find her own reasons."

Beth was, in some way, part of my family now and this smart mouth bitch thinks she should have just taken the easy way out. What the hell? I had no words. No more patience.

"What do you want me to do? Tie a rope for her." Lori spat, sarcastically.

"If she's serious, she'll figure out a way." Andrea replied, a much calmer tone to that of Lori and I. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was actively trying to convince us that allowing Beth to commit suicide was the right choice. 

"It does mean that I can show her how much I care." Lori barked back. 

I didn't care so much for Lori as the two of us could never really see eye to eye, but right now, I was grateful to have her fighting for Beth. For preventing her from doing something stupid.

Andrea shook her head. "That has nothing to do with it. She only has so many choices in front of her and she believes that the best one is suicide-"

"That's not an option." I interrupted.

"Of course it is. She doesn't need to be yelled at or treated like a child." Andrea snapped again.

"No, she needs a loaded gun, right?" Lori snapped back. "You wouldn't understand. You haven't been sent in there."

"I came through it." Andrea snarled, raising her voice. 

Now I was lost. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I assumed that maybe Andrea had been through something similar before I showed up.

"Yeah, and you became such a productive member of the group." Lori scoffed. "Let Maggie handle this her way."

"I contribute. I help keep this place safe." Andrea barked back.

"The men can handle this on their own. They don't need your help." 

I don't know how, but this went way beyond what Beth had attempted to do and somehow morphed into a fight between the two women. Something which seemed to have been brewing for a while. This conversation being the entry point for it.

"I'm sorry, but what would you have me do?" Andrea questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

Lori spun round, stopping what she was doing and gestured to the pile of dishes on the side. "Well there's plenty of work to go around."

"Are you serious? Everything falls apart and you're in my face over skipping laundry?"

"It effects all of us. Me, Carol, Lily, Patricia, Maggie. Cooking and cleaning and caring for Beth and the others. You don't care about anyone but yourself." Lori then taking another slice of cucumber before going back to folding the laundry. "You sit up on that RV all day working on your tan with a shot gun in your lap."

My eyes widened at Lori's comment and I turned away for a moment to prevent Andrea from witnessing my amusement. She had a point. More times than not, she was sat up there, laid back, staring out into the field.

"Look I'm on watch against walkers. That's what matters. Not the fresh mint leaves and the lemonade." She spat back. If she was on watch against walkers, she wasn't very good at it. It was her that had fired on Daryl after all.

Lori rolled her eyes. "We are providing stability. We're trying to create a life worth living."

"Are you kidding me?" Andrea argued.

"Look, Lily and I went after Rick and Hershal. We took down three walkers-"

"And crashing Maggie's car. Ever apologize for that?" Andrea interrupted.

Just as Lori was about to say something, I beat her to it. "Actually yes. I did." There was a smile on my face that didn't quite reach my eyes. "If I were you I'd keep your god damn mouth shut."

Andrea just stood looking at me and said nothing and I realized that what I'd said was something Daryl would say.

"You're insane." Lori continued.

"No. You are, and you're the one that is self centered. The way you take it all for granted. Both of you." She fought back.

"Excuse me?" I questioned, glancing over at Lori as if to ask if what we were hearing was actually what we were hearing.

"Rick has gone out there, for the hundredth time. My son was shot. Daryl almost died and so did Lily, so don't you dare tell me that I take this for granted." Lori yelled and I had to act fast and run to her before she could strike Andrea. The anger shaking her body.

"You don't get it, do you? Rick came back, from the dead. Carl too. Now you have a baby on the way. The rest of us have pilled up our losses. Me, Carol, Beth and even you Lily. But no, you just keep on going. Acting like the queen bee. Laying down rules for everyone but yourself!" Andrea then ranted, glaring at Lori. "You know what. Go in there and tell that little girl that everything is going to be okay. Just like it is for you. She'll get a husband, a son, baby...boyfriend..."

By the look on Lori's face, Andrea had hit a nerve and had bought up something that Lori really didn't want to have to deal with. She was treading on really thin ice and I knew that sooner or later, this conversation had to come to an end.

"She just has to look on the bright side." Andrea continued.

Silence settled in the house once Andrea finished speaking and even the screaming from upstairs had stopped. Lori in complete disbelief staring at Andrea as she took the opportunity to make her way out. 

"Unbelievable." I muttered before I had a chance to stop the words coming from my mouth.

Lori just agreed, nodding, before turning back to her work. And, as she did, I made my way into the living room. All of that coming out from a load of built up anger and frustration. The bottom line of it all being that Andrea really didn't care about anyone other than herself.