𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐘 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 wasn't a fan of the camp, probably because her father wasn't there. Currently, she was sitting at her mother's legs as she braided her long, curly hair. It had become unmanageable most days because she didn't have a lot of things to maintain it anymore. So, it was in French braids or a ponytail most days.

It was early in the morning, the sun was just coming up. It was also hot outside. Everyone was sweating already, even though they hadn't even done any work. "You got your father's hair," Lori sighed as Casey felt a tug on her scalp.

"Ow," she winced, Lori apologized quickly, not meaning to hurt her. "Where's Carl?" She asked, toying with the strap of her tank top. It was white and pink striped, and it was also a little bit dirty. She of course had her blue Converse on with a pair of jeans which were beginning to have dirt spots all over the place, specifically in her knee area.

"Probably with Sophia and the Morales kids." Casey didn't really talk to the other kids, she was the youngest one at camp. So, she was kind of seen as a baby to them. So, the eight-year-old kept to herself anymore. She was mainly by her mother's side most of the time.

Lori kept braiding, her hair, and Casey just sat still. She felt the occasional tug which hurt bad, but, she would get over it at some point. Lori knew she needed a haircut, but cutting curly hair was one of the hardest possible things she could do without messing it up.

"Mornin'"

The Grimes woman looked up to see Shane walking near them. "Morning," Lori greeted, Casey was staring at the ground not even realizing he was there.

She was all stuck in her head again. Last night wasn't a good night, at all. She wasn't sleeping, and she didn't even eat at dinner. She couldn't do either. Lately, she was having bad dreams about her father dying...Him getting shot, or the flatline at the hospital. She'd wake up crying, and Lori would have to sleep right next to her, holding her through the whole night to ensure she'd get back to sleep.

"Bad night?" Shane mouthed to Lori, she nodded her head taking a deep breath. He could see the exhaustion on both of their faces. Casey looked like she'd gotten back from one of her slumber parties, and Lori just looked like a tired mom. "Mornin' Casey," When the girl heard her name, she glanced up at him.

"Morning," He didn't ask about how she slept, or anything like that. "What d'ya say you and I go out to the woods and grab some sticks for the fire?" He asked Casey turned her head, and Lori made sure to hold on to the end of her braid.

"Can I?" She asked, Lori nodded her head.

"I want jeans on you, you'll get ticks in there with shorts on, and I want boots on you as well." She told her, Casey gave a light smile, looking back at Shane.

"Alright then, Casey and Shane goin' out for sticks." He walked away after that, and Lori continued to finish her braids. When she was done, she gave her back a small poke, signaling that she was done.

Casey hopped up from her spot, then ran to her tent which had her clothes in them. She quickly put on a pair of jeans that were a little too big on her. So, she'd usually be pulling them up all day when she wore them. She put on her boots and then ran back over to camp.

"Mornin' Amy! Mornin' Andrea!" She exclaimed as she ran past them.

It wasn't just the Grimes and Shane at camp. There were a few families. There were the Peletiers, the family they met on the highway. Ed and Carol, along with their daughter, Sophia.

There were the Harrisons, Amy and Andrea. They were sisters. Andrea was many years older than Amy, who was probably in her early to mid-twenties or so. They were nice ladies.

Dale Horvath who had the big RV. He was an older man, in his sixties. He was very kind and sweet. He usually kept watch all day on top of his RV. He had cared for everyone at camp. Casey liked him because he gave her candy from his secret stash in the RV.

There was Glenn, a young man in his twenties. Before the epidemic, he delivered pizzas. He was very kind, especially to Casey. Casey liked him a whole lot, even though sometimes he treated her like she was a toddler.

There was the Morales, Miranda, Louis, Eliza, and Louis Jr. Everyone called Louis Sr. Morales though. Carl was friends with the Morales kids, and Casey was too, but she was 'too little' to play with them.

Then, Jim, and Casey didn't know about him. Well, she didn't know a lot about him. He seemed nice enough, but he kept to himself a lot. He didn't say much.

There were the Douglas family, Theodore 'T-Dog' and Jacqui, a married couple. They were very kind and caring. Casey spoke to Jacqui sometimes as well.

Finally, there were the Dixons. Casey and Carl weren't supposed to talk to them or go near their side of camp. They weren't very friendly, at all. Merle and Daryl Dixon, two redneck men. Casey didn't really know what to think about them.

Casey slowed down reaching Shane. "Slow down there, Casey Q. Can't have you trippin' and fallin'" He joked his hand going in her head.

"I'm not gonna trip! I'm coordinated!" She emphasized the big word she had used. Shane raised his eyebrows at her.

"That's a big word," He commented, she nodded her head.

"I know,"

The pair walked into the woods and Casey found herself balancing on big logs, her arms out as she put one foot in front of the other. Shane was actually trying to find things like sticks, she'd point them out as she walked as well.

Shane really didn't care that she wasn't grabbing sticks. What he did care about was that she actually had a small smile on her face out in the woods. He hadn't seen her this excited since Rick was still living. He knew how hard his death was on her, it was hard on everyone with him. Rick was a great guy. Anyway, Casey had always been a daddy's girl. She grew up always wanting to be like her father, wanting to be a Sheriff and everything. His being honest was a struggle...Even for Lori since he was the parent she listened to most times. Casey wasn't a difficult kid at any stretch, but, that didn't mean she didn't cause any trouble. Lori was an at-home mom taking care of two kids while her husband was at work, and Casey got herself into trouble sometimes.

It was a big joke about how if they thought Casey was bad now, imagine how she'd be when she was older. But, that's beside the point. The point was that Rick was always able to talk sense into her. He grew up the same way as she did, always causing trouble. He straightened himself out when he got older, yet he was still reckless, hence why he got shot...

"There's a big stick there!" She exclaimed, hopping off the log. Shane saw it and walked over.

"Good eye, Case." He said, bending over and picking up the large stick.

She walked up to him, standing by his side. "How do you like camp?" He asked her, she shrugged her shoulders as she walked alongside him.

"It's okay, I guess." She answered honestly, Shane nodded his head. She was convinced that if her dad was here, it'd be a lot better. It would be even better if she was at home, though. "I like home better." She added, then again, being in that house with all the family pictures with her dad in them, it was hard to see them knowing he wasn't there anymore.

"I don't blame ya, I miss my house too. 'Specially my bed." He told her, trying to make her feel better in some kind of way.

"The girls in them too?" Shane looked up at her slowly, his eyebrows furrowed. "Dad said you had lots of friends in there. Were you havin' slumber parties?" Shane scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah, Slumber Parties."

She picked up a stick and showed it to Shane. He nodded his head, and she held it in her hand as they continued walking.

"How come you don't wanna hang out with your brother and the others?" Casey shrugged, looking down at the ground filled with leaves.

"They don't want me to. Said I'm too little." She pouted, and Shane nodded his head.

"Want me to talk to them?" Casey thought that was the worst idea ever! Then it'd be like they were forced to hang out with her, and it'd be all strange and awkward.

Casey shook her head no immediately. "No, then it's snitching. And plus, then they'd be forced to hang out with me and it'd be weird." She told him, Shane nodded his head.

"Okay then,"

He didn't push anymore. They just continued picking up sticks, that was until curiosity picked up in little Casey.

"D'ya my parents would divorce if-"

"Okay, Casey, time to go back."

                       𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

"𝐇𝐈, Glenn," Casey was walking back from her tent, back in her jean shorts and Converse. She wasn't exactly opposed to wearing her big boots and long jeans. They were both big on her, and she didn't want to wear them anymore because she kept having to pull her jeans up.

Glenn was currently mapping out something. He was going on a run for supplies for camp. He often did that, this time he was bringing a few others along with him. "Hey, Casey," He greeted, she stood there wondering if she could do something. She was awfully bored and felt a bit useless.

She'd already asked to help with laundry, but Amy, Andrea, Jacqui, and Carol said they were good. Keeping watch was a one-man job, Shane was chopping up wood, which was something she wasn't allowed to do. She didn't go near Ed because all he did was sit and smoke. The others were playing, and her mom was keeping an eye on them.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked, sitting down next to him. He showed her the map he had, and she looked at it.

"Mapping out the run, I'm leaving tomorrow." He told her, she raised her eyebrows.

"Can I go?"

Glenn was shocked by her question. "I don't think so," He laughed, she rolled her eyes, resting her head on her hand.

"Why?"

"Maybe once you grow a few inches, yeah?" He said she slumped her shoulders, getting up from the ground.

"I'm almost as tall as Carl,"

"You gotta be taller than him, then we can talk." She walked away, crossing her arms.

Casey stared at the ground, watching her blue Converse take a step. She heard all the kids laughing and playing, and then there was lonely Casey Grimes. She was never that way she was the most extroverted kid ever. Sometimes, you could never get her to stop talking to people. But now, if you told anyone at that camp she was a talkative kid, they'd call you a liar.

It seemed ever since her dad died, she lost that little spark she had with people.

"Hey, girlie! You want ta make yerself useful?" Casey looked up to see Merle Dixon outside of his tent with a cigarette in his mouth. She looked around, making sure her mom and Shane weren't around to hear her answer.

"Sure," She answered, then slowly walked over to the older man.

"Help Darylina skin some squirrel, he'll teach ya." He told her, she looked over to see Daryl Dixon looking at him with an annoyed face.

She slowly walked down and sat next to him on a log, but, also keeping a distance. "Ya know how ta skin squirrel?" He questioned, the eight-year-old shook her head quickly. "Parents didn' raise ya right." He commented, making her look down sadly. He handed her a knife, which she slowly put in her grasp. She knew her mother wouldn't be impressed by this...

Daryl taught her how to do it, and slowly but surely, she got the hang of it. It was dead silent as she helped him skin the squirrel, and she didn't even attempt to make a conversation.

That was until she sliced her palm.

She quickly gasped, tears entering her eyes. Her face felt hot, and Daryl looked at her palm. "Fuckin' shit, yer mother's gonna kill me." He muttered as she wiped her hand on her leg. "Rub some dirt on it," He tried to joke as she let one tear fall.

"Don't be a crybaby, girlie! Ya sliced yer hand big deal!" Merle exclaimed, Daryl looked at her hand from far away, watching how much blood was flowing out of it.

"Ah, shit-" Daryl cursed, seeing Lori looking over at her eight-year-old old daughter who was crying over slicing her hand open.

"Casey, baby, what are you doing down there?" Lori asked, Casey turned her head to her mother, her bloody hand now shaking from how worried she was. She quickly walked over as Daryl looked at his brother in the side of his vision, he knew they were screwed.

When Lori saw the blood seeping through the girl's palm and dripping onto the ground, she gasped. "What happened?" She asked, kneeling down in front of her.

"It ain't our fault!" Merle told the woman, walking over. Daryl didn't say anything, all he knew was that Merle proved himself guilty just by doing that...

That was until little Casey Grimes took the blame.

"They told me I shouldn't be skinning squirrels, but I did it anyway. It's my fault." Lori sighed, looking at her daughter in disappointment. Casey wouldn't look her in the eye and say it. Only one person could call her out when she was in a lie.

That was Rick Grimes...

"Told 'er that skinnin' squirrels was a man's job," Merle played along with the eight-year-old, then blowing smoke out of his mouth from his cigarette.

"Best you watch where she goes." Daryl finished the conversation before Lori pulled her away, worried about what she was going to do with her daughter who probably needed stitches right now.

When she got her sat down, she started to clean it out with stuff she had in her small first aid kid. Casey clearly didn't like the feeling of the anti-bacterial wipes hitting her cut. No kid ever would. "Baby, I told you that you couldn't go over there." Lori scolded, grabbing a big ace bandage to wrap her palm.

"I'm sorry, mom. I just felt useless, that's all." Casey wasn't exactly lying about that part, maybe they asked her to make herself useful, but her feeling useless was the truth.

She couldn't go on runs, do laundry, play with any kids, help Lori. She was useless, just there. It made her feel bad.

"You're not useless, who else is gonna bring a smile to my face while we're stuck here?"

Casey shrugged her shoulders, her hand still getting all wrapped up. "Carl," She answered blankly, Lori shook her head.

"He's too busy with his friends, I think you're my only friend here." Lori tried to lift her spirits, and she did. The corners of Casey Grimes's lips went upward, no matter how hard she had to keep them down. "I've been thinking of that girl's trip we took, remember?" She asked, Casey nodded her head immediately.

"We got our nails painted, and we got you some new clothes, and had some lunch" Lori reminisced, Casey smiled bigger, remembering the day as if it were yesterday. The goal was also to distract her while wrapping up her hand so she wouldn't cry, or wince. It was successful because Casey wasn't focused on it.

"But, if you really want to be useful, you can help me fold some laundry once your hand's all better." She kissed her daughter's bandaged hand, and quickly brought her in.

"I love you, Casey."

"Love you, Mommy."

                       𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

a/n:

Casey being a mommy's girl honestly is so cute to me.😭 I love Lori and Casey SM but wanna know what I love more?

CASEY AND RICK GOD THEY'RE GONNA BE THE BEST FATHER AND DAUGHTER TO EVER EXIST BECAUSE HES GONNA BE THE BIGGEST GIRL DAD EVER.

anyway...