It Comes With The Name

Chapter 27: A Chip Off The Old Block

"You seen Grimes?" He called up.

Dale jumped a little, clearly not noticing him approaching. Why did they have him on guard duty again? He shook his head. "They're not back yet."

"Nah, not Rick, Lauren. Someone's gotta tell her to keep track of this one." He said, nodding down to Tank to was happily waiting as they talked.

"Yeah... they're not back yet. Lori went off looking for them herself, but I guess you already knew that..." Dale said, the judgment heavy in his voice. "Lauren Glenn and Rick went off to get Hershel, haven't come back yet."

"What?" Daryl's brows furrowed. "She went out with em?" He couldn't exactly pinpoint the emotion that he felt bubbling up inside of him. Anger? Worry? Concern? Whatever it was he didn't like it.

Dale gave Daryl an almost sympathetic look which just made him more frustrated. "She's a tough girl, Daryl. You don't have to worry about her."

"Worry? I ain't worried about her!" Daryl said quickly with a not-so-convincing shrug. "If the girl wants to get herself killed for some old drunk that ain't my problem."

"Now, that's not-"

"M' gonna do a sweep." Daryl turned around, blatantly ignoring whatever it was Dale was going to say. He made a beeline for the fence running along the perimeter of the property. He needed to clear his head. Tank followed behind him, either unaware or unbothered by his change in mood.

'She always does this, Why does she always do this?' He thought to himself. It was like the girl had a death wish or something. She seemed to run headfirst into danger without a second thought. He hated it. And he hated even more how much he let it bother him.

Why did he care so much? She wasn't his responsibility anymore, if she wanted to be reckless she had every right to be, he was off the hook. But he couldn't shake the overwhelming urge to somehow try to keep her safe. Since the first day he and Merle had picked her up on the side of that highway he had felt responsible for keeping her alive. She had very quickly proven herself capable, but the feeling never left; If anything it only grew the more time they spent together.

He circled back around, making his way back to his tent, Tank still beside him. He stopped a few meters away and furrowed his brows. Carol was standing in his makeshift camp, seemingly very interested in the rabbits he had skinned and strung up earlier. With his emotions already high, seeing Carol so blatantly invade his space like this sent him over the edge.

Daryl stormed over to her. "What are you doing?"

She jumped and whipped around to face him, clearly taken by surprise. Collecting her composure she took in a deep breath. "Keepin' an eye on you."

"Well, ain't you a peach." He sneered, pushing past her and heading towards his tent.

"I'm not gonna let you pull away." She told him simply. Daryl stopped and turned to face her. "You've earned your place."

He looked at her, her words sparking up a memory of a conversation he had with Merle not long after Lauren and Tank had first joined their camp.

"Y'ain't gotta talk to her like that ya know." Daryl had told his brother quietly one night. They had been sitting in the bed of the old pickup truck, giving Lauren the chance to get some rest in the tent. Merle was on guard duty and Daryl had just opted to stay out with him so Lauren could actually feel some sense of privacy.

It had been five or six days since they had first met Lauren and Tank on the highway. Daryl had initially protested when his brother insisted on her joining them, groaning at the thought of having another mouth to feed. But she had proved to be a valuable member of their group.

Despite her being with them for such a short period Merle had managed to make a record-breaking amount of lewd remarks to or about her.

Merle scoffed. "Don't go soft on me lil' brother. She owes us, I'd say I can talk ta her any way I like."

"She can handle herself." Daryl shrugged. "She don't owe us nothin... She's earned her place."

He took a step towards Carol, the memory of his brother only fueling his anger. "If you spent half the time minding your daughter's business instead of sticking your nose in everybody else's she'd still be alive!"

Instead of retreating into herself as Daryl expected her to, Carol stood her ground. She crossed her arms but kept her watery eyes on Daryl. "Go ahead."

"Go ahead and what? I mean just go! I don't want you here!" He shouted, the cluster of emotions that were swirling up inside him spilling out into his words. "You're a real piece of work, lady. What, are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that? Pfft! Man, you don't know shit."

Although a tear ran down her cheek, Carol made no effort to move or say anything, waiting for him to continue his outburst. For some reason, her lack of reaction only frustrated him even more. "You're afraid. You're afraid 'cause you're all alone. You got no husband, no daughter. You don't know what to do with yourself. You ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! All you had to do was keep an eye on her!"

He took a step toward Carol and she flinched. Daryl stopped in his tracks when she did this, keeping the glare on his face but not making any more moves towards her. As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them, but it was too late to go back now. He gave one final glance at her before ducking into his tent. He flopped down onto the sleeping bag and took in a breath.

Daryl rarely felt guilty for the things he said to people but something about the interaction just didn't sit well with him. The way that Carol had flinched when he moved towards her, the flicker of fear he saw in her eyes left him with a bad feeling. It was the same look he used to get when his dad would come home at the end of the day, heavily reeking of beer and cigarettes.

Daryl knew full well what Carol's late husband was like, hell, everyone in camp knew. They all hated Ed, the first few weeks sharing a camp Lauren had got into a few heated arguments with the man that luckily didn't escalate. At least not in the way others could see. Daryl knew what men like Ed were like and as soon as everyone was asleep, all that frustration he had for Lauren would be taken out on his wife. He felt his stomach turn as he realized he had just done the same thing.

"Fuck." He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, and closing his eyes he leaned his head back in frustration. He opened them up again when he felt something cold and wet on his free hand and looked down to see Tank nudging at him. The dog let out a whine as he lay down beside Daryl.

"Aight, guess yer stayin' here tonight." He said, kicking off his boots before repositioning himself on the sleeping bag. Tank got back up, pacing around the small tent for a minute before once again settling back down, probably wondering where Lauren was. 'You and me both' Daryl thought as he absentmindedly stroked the top of Tanks head. He stared up at the fabric ceiling above him, worst-case scenarios running through his mind until he finally managed to doze off into a restless sleep.