Cherokee Roses {Daryl Dixon's Daughter}

s e v e n

"But even then you'd still have to be careful for a while." I state to him and lean my head up against the head board. "Have you even read any of Dale's books? I'm sure that might cure some boredom."

He just laughs at me and nods his head. "Yeah, they all suck." I laugh along with him.

"At least the dead can't take away jokes." I joke with him even though it's true. We don't have anything else that they can take beside's our lives.

"To bad they can't, your's stink." He says grabbing my hand. I tense up from the unexpected gesture but relax when I realize that we might die any day, might as well live for now.

"If our parent's could see us they'd have a hay day." I tell him leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Trust me I am." Rick says coming into the room. He ruffles his son's hair before turning to me. "Carol wanted me to see if you'd help her set the table?"

"Yeah of course," I say with a small smile, although I'm sad that I have to go. "Bye Carl."

I walk into the kitchen where most of the woman are finishing up the last parts of the meal. I take the plates and put one in front of each chair. Hershel has a lovely house. I never really took that into account until now. The apocalypse hasn't reached this place yet and as much as I never want it too, it will, because it takes everything good that's left and destroys it. Rick exits Carl's room and gives me a small nod and a wink that tell's me our secret's safe with him.

I hear Andrea yell something from outside but the men go to handle it so I don't think to much about it until a minute later when a shot goes off and I run outside along with everyone else.

"What on Earth's going on out here?" Hershel yells and I see two men pick up a body and Andrea and Dale running out into the field.

"Oh my god." I mutter dropping a napkin I held in my hand before sprinting to the field meeting Rick who's carrying my unconscious father. Tear's start to well up in my eyes. "Is he-?"

"Don't worry he's just unconscious." Someone reassures me and I nod as tears start rolling down my face.

They take him to Hershel, and they patch him up as I sit outside of the room, waiting for them to be done. When Rick and Shane exit I stand up, "He'll be alright." I nod and enter the room.

When I was younger, I always thought my dad was invincible. But as I grew older I realized he was just hiding the pain from me. Always trying to make my life the best, he kept me happy and out of harms way. He made sure that the scars on his back would never appear on mine. He never let me see them, it's part of the reason he always sleeps on his back, to keep them covered. "What happened daddy?" I'd always ask him and every time he'd answer with something different, sometimes, he'd say Pirates, other times he might say dragons and of course each time I'd believe him until one day after school, I walked in and saw his dad yelling at him for something, and he just accepted the yelling. That was the first time I ever saw Grandpa Dixon, and that was also the first time I realized what the scars were really from.

And now here I am, still shocked at the sight of them asking the same damn question I always am. "What happened Daddy?" I ask once again laying down on the bed curling up next to him.

"Walkers, and snakes." He says wrapping an arm around me and pulling me as close as he can to his chest without hurting his side.

"I thought you died." I admit sadly.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." He murmurs into my hair before leaving a light kiss on my forehead. I stay in his arms for a long time, and when I'm half asleep I hear the door of the room open and dad pulls the sheets up to cover his back.

"How ya feeling?" Carol asks dad setting down a tray of food.

"Bout as good as I look." He mumbles adjusting my head on his arm.

"Brought you some dinner." Carol says and I feel my dad slightly roll over to look at the woman. "You must be starving." She then leans over and places a kiss on his forehead.

"Watch out I got stitches." He says coldly, and I know it's because he rarely has affection shown to him.

"You need to know something," She tells him. "You did more for my little girl today than her daddy did in his whole life."

"I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done." He grunts.

"I know. You're every bit as good as them." She says softly. "Every bit." He stays quiet until she speaks again. "You raised her well. You might not think so, but that little girl has more compassion in her pinky than some grown men. She might not know, but I do."

I feel my father look down at me and Carol walks out of the room closing the door behind her. "Yeah, she does." He whispers laying a kiss on my temple.

~~~

I'm really sorry this is so dialogue heavy and short, I tried to make it a tad longer but it didn't work out to well. ~ AJ

Word Count: 1631