Chained Book 1 (Daryl/M!Reader)

Carl

Chapter 11- Carl

It had been two hours since most of the group had gone to search for Sophia. I was on top of the RV with Dale, looking for any signs of trouble or of the group returning. Dale was a kind man. He told me about his wife and how she had passed away due to cancer. They never had any kids, but he always wanted them. His wife apparently couldn't have any of her own. They kept having miscarriages. Right now, Amy and Andrea were all he had. I told him bits and pieces of my life in return.

"So she wanted a preppy daughter? One who would dress up, never talk back, and marry a rich man to have children with?" Dale shook his head. I gave him a smirk.

"My mama was a bitch. She wouldn't let me do anything on my own. She tried to dress me, bathe me, feed me, and teach me school. I couldn't go out to parties or get a job." I looked up at the sky, watching as the sun got closer and closer to the tree line. "Course I snuck around her and found ways to escape." I lifted my right arm, the one that was bit and broken.

I brought it close to Dale and he took ahold of it in his gentle grasp. "Sometimes, the knife was my only escape."

He ran his fingers over the faint scars. "One day, when I was 15, I snuck out of the house. I told myself that this was it. I was finally free. I stole money from my ma's purse, and got myself my first tattoo." I pointed to the rose that covered the inside of my forearm. The bottom half of the stem and leaves twisting around my arm. "Told myself no more." I chuckled. "It wasn't my last, as you can see. When ever I had the chance, I stole my mom's money and got a new tattoo. Boy did I piss her off. She even tried to force me to get them removed. Yeah right. Like that was gonna to happen."

Dale released my arm and smiled at me. He was the first person outside of the family that I have opened up to. Sure, I told the girls at the quarry a bit about my momma, but not this much.

"Is that what drew you to Daryl? For adventure and to make your mom mad?" He asked softly.

I nodded. "At first it was. I was only sixteen at the time when I snuck out and went to a bar. I didn't drink, they wouldn't let me, but I did pick a fight with some guys. Nearly got my ass handed to me. Daryl stopped them. His rough exterior drew me to him. Mom would never accept him. So I started to hang out with him. Over the next few months we fell in love, and then I got pregnant."

Dale laughed and lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes as he scanned the highway. "Bet that really got on her nerves."

"Hell yeah it did! Specially when her precious son got pregnant. She called me a freak of nature. The evil wench kicked me out and she was the one who wanted a girl who could have children. Well, she got a boy who could. I went to go live with Daryl. I had Eren shortly after my seventeenth birthday and we got married as soon as I was eighteen. I even went to school to become a nurse." I smiled softly as I sat down and leaned back on my arms.

"Do you wish you weren't so young?"

I knew he was only curious. I didn't blame him for wondering. I looked up as he looked down. "Not for a second. I know Daryl doesn't like to show his feelings to people, but he really has come far. For the first few weeks after I met him, he tried to push me away. Said I was too pure, that he would just corrupt me. But he slowly opened up, and he's slowly opening up to this group... Right now, this is our family."

Dale opened his mouth, paused, and then shut it again. "Yeah... Family."

I stood back up and made my way over to the ladder at the back of the RV. I took a quick look around. A large red and white vehicle quite a ways down the road caught my attention.

"Hey, Dale? I think I see an ambulance down the road a bit. I'm gonna go check it out. It might still have some supplies in it."

"Alright, but be careful. I'll watch out for you from here. If you see anything, holler, I'll come running." He told me. I nodded before making my way down the ladder. "Will do."