Chapter 017

We had been on the road for weeks now, maybe even a month or two with no luck on finding a place to stay longer than a few days. It's been one house to the next, occasional small shops and even a library at one point. The days have grown cold, snowy even as we enter December, and one thing about Georgia; the winters are bad. We all stayed huddled at night for warmth, some praying for better shelter, while others prayed for the summer months.

      The kids seemed to enjoy the winter, occasionally taking the time to play in the snow and start snowball fights with the adults. Millie enjoyed the snow too, being a Husky and all, she thrives in the colder months. Sometimes the kids and Millie are what brings a smile and some amusement to our days, allowing us a chance to relax rather than being stressed. It's nice seeing that they find ways to still be what they are - children.

      Shivering as a cold breeze blows past, I pull my heavy coat closer, attempting to block it out. I lean against the siding off a cabin, impatiently waiting for Rick and Daryl to pop out and give the all clear. Resting my glove-covered hands on my slightly swollen bump, I couldn't help but smile. Even after all that happened back at the farm, my injury and the lack of food lately - my pregnancy still progressed.

      My belly is slowly starting to show signs of a bump and I had begun to feel little flutters every once in a while. At first, I felt panicked when I felt the flutters, but Hershel assured me that was a good sign of what is to come. The nausea never went away, but as I slowly enter the second trimester, it isn't an all day thing - just if I don't take the time to eat something in the mornings. Feeling a tap against the siding, I tilt my head to see that Rick stood next to me.

      "We're ready for everyone." Rick informs before he walks back into the cabin, probably to give orders to T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl. Tilting my head toward the cars, I give a curt nod toward Maggie as she begins to let everyone pile out of the vehicles. Pushing myself from the siding, I walk into the cabin and came to an abrupt stop. I look around the small place, a heavy feeling falling on me as I take in all it has to offer.

      A small worn down couch set against the wall, a recliner not far from it that is angled toward a boxed TV. A few pictures hung on the wall of a small family that consisted of a mother, father and their daughter. Pushing myself to move further into the home, I glance toward the kitchen, one that looks all too familiar. Blood still stains the tile where a murder had taken place years ago.

      Tearing my gaze from it, I look down the small hallway, a bathroom sitting at the end of it, with two bedrooms on either side. A heavy feeling falls on my chest as I take in the very home I had ran from, yet still lead the group to in an attempt to find warm shelter. It offered a fireplace next to the TV in the living room and a few beds for the kids. Walking down the hallway, I open the door to the smallest room before entering.

      It still remains the same as it did all those years ago, a bed, a dresser and a bookshelf of books. A few drawings were taped to the purple walls and a picture set on the nightstand along with my diary. Sitting down on the bed that was once mine, I felt my body tense as the memories of what happened year came flooding back. My mother is buried in the backyard, an unmarked grave that had gone unrecognized by the police when my father reported her missing.

      His body should still be rotting away in his bedroom if they haven't removed his corpse - a secret of mine that feels to be unraveling. Daryl didn't even know Samuel was dead, rotting away in his own room due to the hands of his own daughter. I killed him the day I moved out, telling myself that he deserved the death he got. Nobody knew and nobody came to check up on him to even see why he hadn't came to work.

      Blinking away the tears, I grab the diary and the picture of my mom and I, before walking out of the room. Holding the picture frame close, I force myself to open up my father's bedroom door. Peering inside, his body had no longer rested on the bed, confirming that they had drug his body outside. Not daring to move further into the room, I closed the door and begin to walk back toward the others.

      Everyone, aside from Daryl, is gathered in the living room, all sitting around in silence. Pushing past them, I grab the lighter off the shelf on the fireplace, before I click it for the flame. Kneeling down, I toss my diary into the fireplace before holding the lighter to it - burning the very secrets I didn't want to get it. Once it caught fire, I place the lighter back on the shelf before I sit down in the recliner - the smell making me want to puke.

      "How did you know about this place?" Glenn asks as he sits down on the couch next to the recliner. Tilting my head to look away from him, I look toward the family picture hanging above the TV. My father's false happiness, my mother's joy and my toothless smile. I had been a happy child for the most part, having had my mother protecting me until her fate but that still doesn't cover the pain that is still there.

      "Look at the picture right there, really look at it," I sign before pointing at the family picture above the TV. I saw the resemblance of the child that resides in me, the same hazel eyes, the same sad look on her face. "That's my mom, my dad.... me." Tilting my head to look toward Glenn, I watch as he realizes the little girl in these pictures are me. Looking away from him, I look down at the picture in my hand, slowly beginning to take it out of the frame.

After I place the picture in my back pocket, I stood up and make my way into the kitchen. I send a curt nod toward Rick and Hershel, who stood by the stove engulfed in their own conversation. T-Dog sat at the dining table, his eyes glued to the dry blood on the tiled floor. Not having the nerve to tell him what happened here, not really wanting anyone to know this is my home - but I know the others will figure it out.

The little girl in these pictures looks just like me.

Standing by the back door, I notice that Daryl is standing by a tree that is in the fenced in backyard. His eyes looked down at the unmarked grave of my mother, having been the only person other than William and Merle to know she was buried there. Looking away from him, I notice that Carl and Sophia are playing on the wooden swing and slide set my grandpa had built years ago. My father didn't like it and barely let me play on it as a result, but I'm not going to take away their fun.

Millie is out there with them, running around the familiar yard and occasionally stopping to roll in the snow. Feeling someone tap my shoulder, I look over it to see Lori who was looking down at me. She isn't much further along than I am in her pregnancy, yet she is beginning to show a lot more than me. But that doesn't seem to slow the woman down at all.

"You don't mind them playing on that do you?" Lori questions as she turns to face the play set, a small smile forming as she watches her son have fun. He is pushing Sophia in the swing, both of them seeming to be laughing just as much as the other. "I barely ever used it. So it's finally getting some good use out of it." I answered truthfully, truly not bothered by the fact Sophia and Carl were playing on it. In fact, my grandpa would be happy to see it getting some use out of it if he were still alive.

"Katherine, can we talk for a second?" Rick asks after he walks over toward us as Lori bids a small smile before walking back into the living room. Opening the back screen door, I step out onto the back porch as Rick follows. Closing both of the doors for privacy, since Daryl and the kids were a good bit away, I caught a glimpse of his lifeless body. They had him toward the side of the cabin covered in the sheet that had been on his bed.

      "I know this is your home," Rick signs suddenly once we had turned to face each other. Sighing at his words, I only nodded to confirm his suspicions. "The pictures confirm it and Daryl did too when I asked about them. I have to ask, does that body belong to your father?"

      "Yeah, that's Samuel. My dad," I reply rather dismissively, not really wanting to call that waste of space my father. Daryl knew how I felt about that man but he didn't truly know everything that Samuel put me through. "I'm not at all shocked he's dead. I'm not even sad about it really, he wasn't the best person to be around."

      "There's a cellar on the left side of the house. It has a lock, but he keeps the keys in my mother's ring box on their dresser," I continue, not giving him time to ask questions as to why I don't care that he is dead. I don't want to be the one to explain to a sheriff that I was the reason that man isn't breathing. "There should be some containers down there of gas. A few guns as well, some ammo. There is also a generator right next to it, I'm not sure how much gas it takes to kickstart. But it should give enough electricity to stay here for a bit, hold out the winter. There is also this yard that we can fortify a bit to keep the kids safe, so they can be kids. Daryl and I know these woods, his dad's cabin isn't all that far, so food shouldn't be an issue for now."

      "Are you sure about this, Kat? You want to hole up here for the winter?"

      "We don't really have much of a choice. Winter is just going to get colder, worse with the snow. The driveway is long, so we'll hear someone coming before they see us, walkers too. I don't have much more in me to keep going from place to place, we're all tired."

      Rick nods at my words before he goes inside, probably to get T-Dog and Glenn to help him with the cellar and generator. Letting a sigh escape my mouth, I rub my face tiredly as I begin to walk through the snow toward Daryl. He is now leaning against the tree, looking out toward the woods as he chews at the dead skin around his thumb. Stopping just behind him, I look down at the snow covered ground, my eyes landing where my mother is buried.

      Even with it being unmarked, I can remember exactly where she lays. It isn't hard to forget when that was one of the most traumatic times of my life, watching her being buried by the same man who killed her. Feeling an arm wrapping around my shoulders, I allow my head to rest again Daryl's chest, breathing in his scent. We both know I didn't want to come back here, but it was a better option than William's place and being out on the road all winter.

      "Samuel's been dead for a while, Kat. He is half decayed," Daryl explains once he had gotten me to look at him, his blue eyes filling with concern as he spoke. Shifting uncomfortably at his words, I place my arms against my small bump. "It was hard to get him outside without him falling apart. Do you know what happened?"

      "He's been dead since I was eighteen," I sign, finally revealing the very secret I've held onto for years. I know Daryl is bound to find out, because he pieces together stuff he isn't suppose to very easily. "The day I came here by myself, the last day I was ever here, I took his gun and shot him in the neck. I watched him bleed out before I left for good. I wanted to burn down the place, but thought against it since I had already murdered someone."

      Daryl stands there for a moment, silent and shocked at what I had just confessed. He scans my face for any hint of it being a lie, a horrible joke even - but he isn't going to find it. I am the one who killed Samuel Johnson, I am the one who revenged my mother's killer, our abuser. I am the one who killed the man who took my innocence and I don't even regret it.

      "Did William ever find out?" He suddenly asks, confused as to how Samuel's death stayed under wraps as long as it had. They were best friends, spent a lot of time together drinking, hooking up with girls, doing drugs and hunting - yet when Samuel disappeared, William did nothing. "No," I answered after a moment of silence, watching as Daryl room in my words. "If he did, he never said anything."

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      Night had fallen since we arrived at my childhood home and we finally had electricity. Rick had took my word for the cellar and with the help from Hershel, he got the generator up and running so we could have some light. And with the generator, we were able to heat up the well water enough to take decent showers. It'll be tricky to get the generator to last all winter, but it's doable if we can find enough fuel for both the generator and the cars.

      We had spent most of today clearing out the bedrooms and the living room, boarding up the windows that had easy access for walkers and humans, and using some of the things we had to fortify the fence in the backyard. Daryl and Glenn tore down a shred that was a few miles off the property that Samuel had built and never used, allowing us to use some of that wood to secure doors and windows, while also making the fence higher for protection. Samuel had a lot of useful things on this property that is helping us for now, but to keep us safe in the long run - doubtful. I had taken all of the pictures that hung on the walls and ripped them to sheds, forming a pile to burn to keep heat going throughout the home.

      I didn't need all of the pictures and wanted no reminder of Samuel during our stay here. I have the one and only picture I needed in my back pocket of my mother and I. We had moved all of our sleeping gear into the bedrooms, leaving the living room as a hang-out area. While we had left most of our supplies in the vehicles, which were parked pointing toward the driveway so we can easily get away if needed, we did store some of them in the cellar which remains locked up.

      Rick agreed that we'd stay here for as long as we can, to at least rest up and to stock up on supplies. But at the first sign of dangers, we would leave to find someplace safer. Starting tomorrow we'd begin searching for more supplies, Maggie and Glenn having been the ones to offer searching surrounding areas, followed by T-Dog and Carol. Daryl agreed to go hunting and to look for supplies and food in the areas he knew.

      Hershel agreed to help Rick keep watch, while T-Dog and Daryl would take turns patrolling the area day or night. Lori, Beth and I would tend to the kids and make sure everything is fine inside the home. Hershel didn't want me pushing myself too hard with the pregnancy, so him and Daryl have ordered me to relax as much as I could. But agreed that I'd be fine to do the more gentle chores to help Maggie and Beth out.

      Daryl, Sophia and I had taken my old room for the time being, as a way for some sort of privacy. Rick, Lori, Carl, Hershel and Beth took my parents' room as it is spacious enough to fit the five of them. Maggie and Glenn took the attic, which is big enough to be a smaller bedroom if it wasn't full of junk. The ladder to get up there was in my parents' closet, and truthfully, I never realized we even had an attic.

      Carol and T-Dog took the living room since it is the only room left in the house that someone could use. The front door is tied shut, doubled knotted for protection while a couch is pushed against it to make it harder for someone to get in. And at night, the back door is barricaded with the broken recliner that felt impossible to move. We are all in our chosen spots, either asleep or reading a book from my collection that I had in my room.

      A lamp dimly lit my old bedroom, causing our shadows to bounce off the walls with ease. Sophia lays in her sleeping bag furthest from the door with Millie sleeping next to her. She hadn't fallen asleep yet, as she is reading The Outsiders but by the way she keeps dozing off, it won't be long until she is asleep. Daryl is standing in front of the boarded up window, peering through the few cracks to look for any threat.

      We all agreed that we'd be fine for one night without someone on guard, that way we could be well rested tomorrow. But Daryl isn't the one to not be on guard when it comes to his safety or those he cares about. I am sat on my sleeping bag, a brush in hand as I brush through the knots in my wet hair. I had taken the time to shower, much like everyone else did, however I had been the last to do so.

      It is hard for me to fully relax in this home, as it held so many unpleasant memories. Yet, I had no choice but to try and relax, occasionally having to remind myself that he isn't here to hurt me or anyone else. Tensing up as I felt someone sit down next to me, I am instantly brought back to the present. Tilting my head to my left, I smile as Daryl finally allows him to relax and to sit next to me.

      He had also taken the time to wash up and change into comfortable clothes to try and relax. But just like me, he had a hard time doing so just knowing all that has happened here. "Are you okay?" He asks as he realized I had tensed up for a moment when he sat down. I only nod as I put the hair brush back in my bag, continuing to keep all of my supplies packed up.

       Before I could do anything else, Daryl grabs my hand before placing something small inside of it. Carefully opening my palm, I notice a ring inside of it, a ring that once belonged to my mother. The band was gold with a green rock in the center. It is a ring that my grandmother had given her before she passed as a "welcome to parenting" gift.

      "I know we can't have one of them fancy weddings or make it official under God and all," Daryl begins as he grabs the my chin to turn me to face him, his blue eyes staring into my hazel ones with ease. His touch is gentle as he moves his hand from my chin, pulling my hands into his. "But I don't care about none of that, really. I just know that I love you, I love her and I love our baby. And I want to make us an official family. However that is in this world. So.... would you take your mother's ring and be my wife?"

      Looking down at the ring in my hand, I glance over to Sophia who had shut her book and looked at us. Her eyes are wide as a smile spreads across her face, as she tries to fight back the excitement she feels. Feeling rather excited myself, as my vision blurs with happy tears, I carefully slide the ring onto my finger, the ring fitting perfectly. Cubbing Daryl's face with my hands, I press my lips to his instantly.

      Yes Daryl Dixon, I will be your wife.

____Word Count: 3,586

Welcome to Chapter 17! I'm having so much fun writing this book all over again and adding new dialogue, with the old. I don't even remember making it to chapter 17 in the first version of The Deaf One, or if I did, what was even happening by this point.

Anyway....

I hope you guys enjoyed this filler-type chapter!

Lots of love,Crimson Rose