CARL'S CONFESSION-008
As Matilda walked away the graves after Dale's funeral, a hand wrapped around her bicep, tightly, before pulling her behind a tree.
"What the fuck, Shane? Get off of me." The dark haired girl sneered at her father's best friend.
She tried pulling her arm away from the psychic man who had a deranged look in his eyes. Something about this look scared her.
"It's time to show me a little bit of respect, girl." The deranged man growled, tightening his grip.
"Yeah, no." Tilly scoffed. "Now let me go, you ape."
Suddenly, Shane's eyes darken as he, forcefully, pushed the girl up against a tree. Matilda's eyes widen as her back slammed, hard, into a broken branch stub.
"You better start giving me the respect I deserve after what's outta what happen to ya father." Shane snarled, his grip becoming far to tight for Tilly's liking.
His hands were wrapped so tightly around her arms that he was beginning to leave finger paints on them. Her back was pressed against the tree branch stub so hard that it was digging into it
"Pardon?" The dark haired girl asked, her voice strained slightly. "What's gonna what happen to my dad?"
A cruel smirk spread across the psychic man's face. "You'll found out real soon, but in the mean while how about we start leaning some respect. Understand?"
Staring at the man for a moment, something clinked in her head. Shane was planning on killing her father. It made sense, the deranged man despised her father.
She wasn't stupid.
She knew Shane like the back of her hand. He's been there since she was born. For her, he was easy to read. The man she, once, trusted with her life was suddenly a man who couldn't be anymore. Not after leaving her and Lee behind.
Matilda's and Shane's relationship had started to turn sour way before this shit hole started. It was after ten year old Tilly had found her stepmother and father's best friend 'wrestling' in the bedroom.
She was ten, not stupid.
After that whole shit show happened, their relationship plummeted. The ten year old was so over-protective of her father that she confronted her mother and Shane, shouting at them before kicking the man in the shin for hurting her daddy.
Which lead to the little girl refusing to talk to the man or her mother for weeks until her father questioned her behavior.
In all honesty, Matilda wanted to tell her father about her mother and Shane 'wrestling' in the bedroom, but she couldn't. He was happy with her mother, even if she was a lying cheating shit bag.
He was happy. Happy that her mother was pregnant with her baby brother. And she couldn't ruin that.
She doesn't, necessarily, regret it not telling because she would never have gotten Carl, but seeing her father hurt always made her heartbroken.
Matilda just wants him happy. Her father, her brothers, and now the baby was her everything. She will do anything to protect them.
Including protecting her father from Shane.
Being snapped out of her thoughts by the piercing pain from her back where the sharp tree stub was, Matilda let out a grunt of pain.
"Understand, little girl?" Shane growled, shoving her more into the tree. "Understand?!"
Matilda placed her hands on the man's chest and gave him a strong forceful shove that sent him stumbling back.
"Ya not gonna stand here and intimate me. I know ya plan, Shane. And I will do anything in my power to protect my dad from ya psychic hands." She hissed at him, her southern accent becoming stronger.
Shane let a humorless laugh, his darken eyes trained on the girl. "Ya really are that thick, aren't ya? You can't alway protect ya father. One day ya gonna be powerless and he's gonna be gone."
With that, the man walked away leaving a rage and vigilant filled Matilda.
***
When the dark haired girl made it back to the campsite, she stormed passed Daryl, who looked concerned and confused. She climbed into her tent, and saw Lee packing his and Carl's things.
"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, going over to her spot and crouched down.
"Mr Greene said that we can move into the house." Lee answered, his honey brown eyes lingering on his sister's arms. "Til, what happened to ya arms?"
Matilda froze for a second before slipping on her jacket. "Nothing, L. Don't worry about it."
Lee looked unconvinced. "I'm twelve, Matilda, not stupid."
"Hey, that's my line." His sister joked, trying to refuse the tension.
"I'm serious, Matilda." Lee furrowed his brows, looking extremely serious. "Who hurt you? Has it Daryl?"
Matilda shook her head, instantly. "What, no. What made you think that?"
Lee gave her a deadpanned look. "I see the way you look at him, Tilly. googly eyes and all."
"I don't know what your talkin' about." Her sister said, quickly
"Did he?"
Matilda shook her head. "No, he didn't."
Lee stood up from his bed with his hands on his hips like their father. "If it wasn't Daryl, then who?"
"Nobody. Please, just leave it, Lee." His sister pleads as she headed towards the tent flap.
"But Tilly—"
Matilda opened the flap, glancing at her brother with a hard look. "I said, leave it, Samuel Lee."
Climbing out of the tent, leaving her concerned brother behind, Matilda ran into a strong chest.
"Oops, sorry, Dixon."
Daryl looked at the younger girl with concern. "Ya alright?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Matilda said, walking towards the group who stood around one of the trucks.
"Ya were storming though the campsite. Just making sure ya alright" The redneck said, following after the woman.
Matilda felt her stomach fill with butterflies from the redneck's concern for her.
"Well, you don't have to worry. As you can see I'm fine. But thanks for caring."
Daryl watched as the woman that made his heart flutter, walk towards the group and stand next to her dark skinned friend, Lola.
"Gonna be tight, eighteen people in one house." Her father said to Hershel.
"Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up—"
"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell." Maggie added.
Hershel nodded. "She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago."
Matilda shifted, uncomfortably, closer to Kelly, who gave her best friend a odd look. The dark haired girl could feel Shane's heavy stare on her as her father spoke.
"Alright, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out towards the road. We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sight lines both sides of the property."
Kelly glanced at her best friend as she took a crate from Lori. "Ya okay? You seem a little on edge."
Matilda nodded, quickly her action sparking a questionable look in both Kelly's eyes and Daryl's, who was standing a few feet away from them.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just really want to get into the house." She said, stepping closer to her father.
"O—Kay." Kelly said, unconvinced knowing her best friend well. "If you say so."
"T-dog, Lola, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going." Her father said looking between the British woman and T-dog.
"What about standing guard?" Lola asked, standing next to T-dog.
"I need you, T-dog, and Daryl on double duty." Rick replied, glancing at the redneck.
Lola nodded as T-dog spoke. "Gotcha."
Matilda watched as Lola and T-dog walked away before turning towards Hershel.
"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be." The elderly man said, holding a crate.
"What about patrols?" Andrea questioned.
Her father looked at her. "Let's get this area locked down first. After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me, Tilly, and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose."
Shane scoffed, quietly. "We're back to that now?"
"It was the right plan first time around." Her father pressed his lips. "Poor execution."
"That's a slight understatement." Shane laughed, dryly.
"You don't agree, but this is what's happening. Swallow it. Move on." Rick said, firmly.
"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner—that's two separate things right?" Shane said. "You wanna take Daryl and your little girl as your wingpeople, be my guest."
Rick and Shane stared at each for a moment before her father walking away. Matilda took a glance at the deranged man before recoiling back a little when she saw the nasty glare he was throwing her.
***
Climbing back in the tent, Matilda shrugged off her jacket before looking at her bruised arms in the little mirror her mother hung up.
Dark finger paints stained both of her biceps, running a finger over them and winched a dull pain shot though her arms. She grimaced as she lifted her shirt up to her upper stomach, her fingers grazing the irritated wound.
Matilda placed a damp cloth onto the wound, cleaning it a bit before the tent flap opened. Dropping her shirt quickly, she turned towards the flap and saw Carl climbing in.
"Hey, Tilly." He said as he zippered the flap.
"What's up, Papillon?" (Butterfly)
Carl looked at the ground, nervously. "If, um, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell mom and dad?"
Tilly furrowed her brows. "Depending on what that something is."
Carl sighed as he started towards the tent flap again before his sister stopped him.
"Wait, come back, Bud," His sister let out a sigh.
"I took it from Daryl's motorcycle." Carl said as he pulled a gun from his waistline and handed it to his sister. "If he found out I took it, he'd kill me."
Matilda's face turned serious as she took the gun. "What are you doing with this?"
"It's my fault—Dale. It's my fault that he died."
"Carl, why would you say that, Papillon? He got bit by a walker." Matilda furrowed her brows at him. "Why you say—" (Butterfly)
"I saw that walker," Her brother interrupted her. "I was gonna shoot it. It was stuck in the mud. I was—I was throwing rocks at it and stuff. But I was gonna do it—shoot it right in the head. And it—it got free, came after me and—I ran away. If I had killed it, Dale would still be here."
Matilda shook her head, kneeling in front of her youngest brother. "Stop it. Papillon, it's not your fault. Don't ever think that, okay?"
The dark haired girl looked down at the gun her hands for a moment before handing it to her brother.
"But you have to hold onto this." She said making Carl's eyes widen. "I'm not always to be around to protect you, so you need something to protect yourself."
Carl shook his head, backing slight up. "I'm never touching another gun again."
Matilda stared at her brother for a moment before nodding in understanding. "Okay. Alright, you don't need to touch the gun. I understand, bud, just keep your knife on hand all times, okay?"
"Thank you, Tilly," Her brother said, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you."
"I love you too, Papillon." She muttered as she wrapped her arms around him. "So much."