THE LOVELY BONES, daryl dixon

chapter 39 ; fixated

Michonne halted, rigid in her stance as the compassion of the child commenced an awakening of warmth she had lost deep in the chasm of her pain. She whirled to face the innocent child, her face softened entirely, "I'm not like that."

"You are!" Coda grinned, and leaned up to twirl Michonne's braids in her small fingers, "You remind me of my mom."

"Which one is your mom?" Michonne polled, her eyebrows raised with scepticism as she counted back the numerous group members.

Coda's rosy face beamed with pride, and gently tugged Michonne into the hallway, and gestured up towards the perch, "My mom is Ellie, my dad is Daryl."

"Dixon," Michonne growled, but shortly sighed in order not to frighten the child, although Coda remained unfazed, "Was Merle here before?"

Coda tilted her head to the side, and shrugged her shoulders up at Michonne, "What kind of name Merle?"

She hadn't remembered the name.

Michonne simply broadcasted another nasal laugh, before she kneeled down, facing Coda directly with a stiffened glare, "If you ever talk to someone with that name alone, you better run and find someone to look after you."

Coda gulped, her glistening sapphire eyes blinking repeatedly, "Is he a bad guy?"

Before Michonne could respond, Daryl immediately roared behind her; his knife clutched tightly in his left hand as he clasped Coda close with his right hand, "Nobody's a bad guy."

"Daddy," she grinned, and twisted her fingers around his hand, holding him close, "I was talking to Michonne. She's a warrior princess."

"Wouldn't be sure about that," he gritted, and crouched down beside his daughter slowly. He cupped her chin with his fingers, and declared, "You don't talk to her unless I'm here, you got that?"

Coda frowned, and merely shook her head in response as she glanced up at the perch. She then raised her head back up with pride, and asserted, "My mom would do it anyway, so that's what I'm going to do."

"Damn it, Eleanor," Daryl muttered under his breath, until he released a sigh of disappointment. He swerved to face Michonne as he glared daggers at her, and mumbled, "Get back in there; we'll come to you when it's time to go."

Michonne merely gawked at Daryl with hardened eyes, and intimidatingly remained staring deep into his eyes, until she faltered; scoffed and sauntered back inside her cell. She proceeded with her workout, leaving Daryl to spoon Coda into his arms, despite how heavy she had been, and hauled her back up towards the perch. He positioned her down gently next to Ellie on the mattress, allowing all of her perfectly selected flowers to flow from her hands. Daryl, naturally, encouraged her to jump on top of Ellie to awaken her from her deep slumber. Upon feeling the brutal gusts to her ribs from Coda, Ellie spluttered slightly as she stirred awake from her sleep.

"Good morning," Coda's laughs ricocheted off the walls as she woke her mother up unpleasantly as always, causing Ellie to nudge her off gently.

"I don't agree with the 'good' part," she snorted, sleepily kneading at her tired eyes as she regained consciousness. She bit at her lip as she manoeuvred her leg upwards, and gently stroked the wound, "It's better, but man, it hurts."