THE VOID

FIVE. Camila and Glenn

EVERYBODY WAS
starting to get sick of her shit. Every opportunity Camila would try to break into the RV, one time she actually succeeded, seeing her father lying asleep in the back room. She attempted to run and get him till Shane caught her and pulled her out by her arm.

Since her last attempt, Shane and Lori's lectures have done nothing but piss the girl off even more. So, Rick Grimes decided it was his time to shine and use his unconditional kindness to try and explain to the younger girl that it wasn't right to not listen to rules.

He gave the girl her plate of food. One the plate was small peices of cut up rabbit. He sat down along with her which Camila wasn't expecting and didn't exactly like.

"I wanna understand" Rick started off with, not knowing any other way to approach the situation.

"What do you mean?" Camila asked the adult man, taking a peice of rabbit with her fingers like an animal and tossing it in her mouth, chewing the meat that was unreasonable.

"Why you keep trying to get your dad" At the sentence Camila rolled her eyes. "Make me understand your thought process" Rick added one, really trying to understand the child.

Camila wetted her lips and avoided eye contact. "My father isn't the best man alive, I know that. But I don't understand how all of you can treat him the way you do. Lock him up like he's a prisoner, like he killed someone. While there's walkers roaming the streets, eating anything in plain sight"

"Does that upset you?"

"Yes!" Camila snapped to show her frustration. And Camila was a little glad she could talk about her feelings like this. It made the weight feel less heavy. Yes Lucas tried to talk with her but whatever she said he immediately denied with no explanation.

Rick rubbed his hands together. "I understand how it feels, trying to find and go back to your family. I spent days trying to find them." Rick said to the girl. "I am also a police officer. I've dealt with crime of all sorts, same with Shane. And nothing hurts us more than a dangered child" He tried to explain.

"I'm not in danger!" Camila snapped.

Rick licked his lips. "Okay! Maybe your not. But just listen for a second. Imagine your taking a walk into the forest when you see a deer, alright"

"Okay...."

"And it was a baby deer, frightened because this person was trying to shoot it. Wouldn't you feel that deer was scared and dangered and possibly want to rescue it from the scary men with guns?" Rick asked the girl as her eyes drifted down.

"It's okay to feel some remorse for the scary men. Think that it's the cycle of life and they needed a meal to eat. But you could also think about the deer. Maybe he has a family, friends, maybe he has a favorite food. Maybe his family are waiting for him to come home right now" Rick said to the girl, hoping she'd try to think about their prospective.

"I'm the deer." Camila then spoke out loud. "My daddy is the men. Who are you and Shane?" Camila asked, understanding the story.

"We are you. You walk up and see the deer and the men. Now what would you do? Would you let the men shoot that poor deer? Or would you rescue it even if you could hurt yourself?" Rick asked the girl, making her have to really think.

"I'd want to save the deer." Camila answered softly.

"Exactly. We want to save the deer aswell! But it's hard to do when the deer keeps fighting back, not understanding that the men meant for it to be harmed. Correct?" Rick asked, seeing if she started to understand.

Camila licked her lips. "I suppose that is a way of looking at it." Camila said with a small smile.

"I do have one more question. If the deer were to leave you and try to go back to the men, what do you think would happen?" Rick asked this last question to see if she understood that Jim meant the girl harm.