𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈 didn't sleep much that night, nor did Casey...or even Carl. He probably got the most, though it was very little. Rick and Lori got none, being up with a traumatized Casey wasn't easy. They probably wouldn't have even slept because of the crippling fear of the idea of walkers roaming the camp...

After everything, Lori had to take Casey down to the quarry. She was covered in blood and had to get clean. Lori also had to check her for bites or scratches. Luckily, she found nothing.

After getting her cleaned up she wrapped her in a towel and walked her back up to camp. Casey was petrified of everything. A simple stick cracking would make her jump.

Once she was all dressed, she was in the tent while Rick was getting Carl to go to sleep. Casey had gone in Lori's sleeping bag with her. After getting Carl asleep, Rick laid down next to his wife and daughter. He had tucked her head into the crook of his neck, and his hand cupped the back of her head.

He was also consoling Lori during this.

She was silently crying. He just kept giving her nods knowing he understood her pain. Except maybe there was something on her mind that wasn't on his. Well, it was just not the idea.

When Jim said Casey was made for this world, Lori didn't know what he meant. But when seeing Casey covered in Walker's blood, and finding a knife in her hand she was scared out of her skin. Shivers ran down her spine looking at the eight-year-old. She realized the major difference between her and Carl. Carl went to his mother, looking for comfort from her...Casey went into survival mode. She was the one not looking for comfort, but looking to comfort others. Even if she was eight years old, she was way too young to be killing Walkers.

It made Lori panic.

"Casey, if somethin' like that ever happens again, you can't run off like that," Rick whispered, giving a sudden relief to Lori knowing that he didn't want her to do that.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, people do things when they're scared. You just go to your mom or me." He told her, she moved her head from him to look at him.

"What if you're not there again?"

Rick's heart broke at her question. He ran his fingers through her hair, making sure she knew something. That something was how he was never, ever going to leave her again.

"I'm not leaving you again. Not for anything. I promise." She closed her eyes trying to get rid of the tears burning in her eyes. She sniffed back her tears hiding her head back into his chest, feeling a dull ache in her nose.

"Shh, it's ok." He whispered into her ear, still looking at Lori.  "Do you wanna talk about it?" She mumbled a small no, shaking her head. "Ok," he whispered, continuing to murmur comforting words into her ear.

It was late when she finally fell asleep. She was squished in between both of her parents. Rick was still playing with her curls, and Lori was just staring.

Rick may haven't always shown up, but when he did, he was an excellent father. Everyone says being a father to a little girl is hard, that they're too dramatic and everything, but how Rick handled his daughter...he was an expert. He just cared and loved her so much. With Carl, it was easy. He was a boy once too, and though Casey wasn't a super hard kid, she wasn't easy. Carl was the easy kid, well, when he was a toddler he never stopped crying, unlike Casey who was usually silent. Both slept easy until they got to the age of thinking monsters were under their beds.

Lori sighed, staring at them. "Jim...he said something, it was weird." Rick nodded, looking down at Casey.

"Something about the holes-"

"No...no. Earlier, he said Casey was made for this world." Rick still looked down at her, not knowing what that meant.

"What?"

"And Casey...she's a little spitfire, but from what I've seen, she's like her Dad. Kid's made for this kind of world."

"He said she was a little spitfire, she was like you...then he said she was made for this world." Lori's voice got shaky as she said it. Tears filled up in her brown eyes, looking down at her.

"And when they came...she ran to Dixon's camp, she grabbed a knife. And it just-"

"Lori..." Rick whispered

"It made me think he was right, Rick. That our little girl was made to live in a world like this." Lori sobbed, he sighed with a nod of his head.

"She was scared, she had a fight or flight response and her body chose to fight. People do things when they're scared." He told his wife trying to reassure her in any way necessary. "You know me, Lori, I would've done the same-"

"She's eight, Rick! Eight years old and going off to kill walkers." Lori whisper yelled with tears freely flowing down her cheeks. "When Carl was her age he was playing with Hot Wheels and action figures, she's playing with knives." Lori sobbed.

"It's not her fault."

"That's not what I'm saying, Rick. What I'm saying is that I feel like I failed...I-I couldn't protect my baby and she had to do it herself." Rick reached over, wiping the tears off of her face. His hand went on her cheek, his thumb rubbing against her cheekbone.

"It's not your fault." He whispered, she nodded closing her eyes.

"She has no bites, no scratches. She's okay." Rick nodded his head taking his hand away from her face.

"What happened to her nose?" Lori sighed, shaking her head as she looked down at her.

Lori pulled the blanket over Casey a bit more. "Amy says-said Ed went crazy, punched Carol, then Casey got hit." Rick laid on his back, feeling Casey cuddle in more.

"That son of a bitch beats his wife?"

"Not anymore, he's gone now," Lori told him.

"What did Casey say to him?"

"And I quote, Are you just gonna stand there and smoke cigarettes all day because you're lazy? He asked her if she was getting a free pass to not do chores since you're back from the dead." Lori quoted her with a small grin on her face.

"Smart ass," Rick muttered with a small chuckle.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓'𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒. Right now, Lori was fixing the bandage over her nose...like how Amy who lay dead had done it. Casey didn't like looking over there, it made her stomach feel funny. It made her feel sick.

Ed and Amy died last night. Casey couldn't care less about Ed, but she felt bad for Carol and Sophia. Who she did care about was Amy. Oh, how she missed Amy already. She was always so kind to her, and now she was gone. She felt horribly for Andrea as well.

Casey held Walter in her hands to try to settle the nervousness in her stomach. Everyone was walking around with Walker's bodies to throw in a fire.
"All done," Lori whispered, Casey's blue eyes looked at her. She looked exhausted. Despite the bruises under her eyes, Lori saw the exhaustion beneath her eyes. Light bags developed, and she just looked tired. It made sense that she was tired. She couldn't have gotten more than three hours last night.

Rick, who was just as tired, walked over to his family. He put his hand on Casey's head and kissed the top of it then did the same with his wife. Casey looked over at Shane, who was staring somewhat angrily. Casey couldn't tell.

"She still won't move?" Rick asked, he was covered in blood and dirt from moving the walkers over to a fire.

"Won't even talk to us. She's been there all night." She said, her tone of voice being very upsetting. It was an upsetting situation. "What d'we do?" she asked.

"Can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it. Same as the others." Shane told them. Nobody knew what dealing with it meant. Would they bury her? Burn her? How would they deal with her?

Rick decided to deal with it. He took a few steps away from everyone. "I'll tell her how it is." He said before walking over to her.

He slightly bent down, looking at the pale Amy. She was covered in blood, on her face, her clothes, her hair, and everything. Amy Harrison was dead. "Andrea-" It didn't go in his favor. He wasn't able to deal with it because Andrea had pointed a gun to his face.

"I know how the safety works." Rick retreated away from her, showing his hands.

Lori had put her arms around her daughter, who had grown nervous. Her heart beat fast, Lori could feel it. "Hey, it's ok." She whispered, knowing how shaken up she was.

Nodding his head, he repeated "I'm sorry...I'm sorry."

He walked back over slowly, then stopped. Daryl stood up from off a fold-up chair with an axe in hand."Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The Dead Girl's a time bomb." Casey looked down at Walter, rubbing her thumb on the soft stuffed animal.

"What do you suggest?" Rick questioned, thinking he didn't have much of an idea. His head was slightly tilted, and his eyes were squinted.

"I suggest you take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl ignorantly said. Casey shot him a dirty look.

"Want a medal?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, you little pipsqueak, I want someone to have some common sense!" She mocked him, and Lori put her hand out to tell her to stop. Rick looked at her with that look, the one that said stop or you're grounded.

"No, for God's sake let her be," Lori said lowly, sitting back down next to Casey.

She looked over at Amy again, seeing her like that...it hurt, a lot.

Casey knew it probably had to hurt for Andrea, seeing her sister like that. Watching her sister die. She knew that if she ever saw that happen to Carl...she wouldn't even know what to do. She wouldn't even be able to handle it. Likewise with Carl.

"Casey, what have I said about talking back to adults?" Shane questioned, she shrugged her shoulders knowing exactly what he said.

Don't talk back to adults

Rick's head turned to look at him. Why was he trying to discipline his child? It wasn't Casey Quinn Walsh, it was Casey Quinn Grimes. She wasn't Shane's child.

"Shane-"

"No, Rick, she's runnin' her mouth. Not to mention her runnin' off yesterday-"

"You're running your mouth." She stated, staring at him. Lori stopped her quickly.

"Do not engage, Casey Quinn Grimes," Lori whispered sternly, not wanting to make more out of this.

"Then let me talk to her about it." He turned to Casey, who was looking up at him.

"I've tried to tell her-" Shane interjected before Rick could say anything.

"Shane, would you let me-"

Before the conversation could go any further, a loud yell came from Jacqui.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" yelled Jacqui, everyone's attention went on Jim, and everyone circled him. Well, Casey stayed back in her seat with her knees to her chest.

"I'm ok," He breathed out, and everyone started to circle him slowly.

"Show it to us!" Daryl shouted. His breath became shallow. He looked like a deer in headlights as he looked around, he had nowhere to run. He had grabbed a shovel watching as everyone kept circling.

"Grab him!" Yelled Daryl, running over with his axe. T-Dog went up behind him, restraining Jim. Daryl dropped the axe, then lifted his stained shirt to show a bite mark near his ribs.

Casey's eyes widened staring at the bite mark. It was bloody and gross. "I'm okay, I'm okay." He kept saying through deep breaths. Casey looked down knowing he would turn, just like Amy and Ed would. He would become a flesh-eating monster.

Rick walked Jim to the RV, and he sat outside beneath the shade in a chair. Lori brought her daughter over to their tent so she wouldn't hear any of the conversation.
"Why can't I stay?" She asked as the other kids came into view.

"The adults have to talk." She kept it short, knowing Casey would get annoyed.

"I can be an adult."

"Yeah? Maybe don't talk back and then maybe you can stay." Lori sternly said, Casey crossed her arms miserably.

"Everyone doing okay?" Lori asked the kids who sat playing some games.

"Yep," they gave some form of yes, and she nodded with a smile on her face.

"Okay, Casey's gonna stay with you guys for a little bit," Lori said, Casey glared up at her before looking at everyone else.

"Here, Casey, you can sit next to me," Sophia said, moving over so she could sit. She kinda felt guilty because her dad punched her and broke her nose and all.

"You have to be at least eleven-" Carl started, Sophia shook her head no.

"No, you don't, those rules aren't real. Mr. Grimes changed them." Eliza cut him off as Casey sat down.

Carl frowned, Casey was there again ruining everything. It happened a lot. Casey grew up having a lot more friends at school, she also had the perks of being the youngest child. So, at Carl's birthday parties, her friends would be there sometimes. When his friends were over, she was allowed to play with them.

He hated it.

"Have you ever made a bracelet before?" Sophia asked, Casey shook her head no as Sophia took out some thread.

"Here, I'll teach you."

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

          𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 gone to one funeral before. That funeral was her grandfather, her Poppy. It was Rick's dad. She had to wear a black dress with a white Peter Pan collar and black Mary Jane's with frilly socks and a black bow, her hair was all done nice and everything.

Now it was different.

Now she was in dirty jeans, a dirty T-shirt, and blue Converse sneakers. Her hair wasn't nice, nor were her clothes. The funeral wasn't filled with many people, only the ones they had known for a month or two.

Andrea was carrying her sister out with Dale, and they had to put Ed into the truck. Ed was too fat to carry so it was kinda tough to do anything with him. Not that he deserved much. He was a smoker, an alcoholic, and a shitty father and husband. They just put him in the grave as quickly as possible. But Amy...they honored Amy.

Andrea and Dale carried her. Andrea was having a hard time holding it together as she carried her. She kept repeating "I can do it." As she and Dale lowered her covered body into the hole.

Then, Amy Harrison was officially gone. Lori and Carl started crying, and Casey just kept her head down with tears in her eyes. They trickled down a couple of times, and she'd quickly wipe them away.

By the end of the funeral, everyone was a mess. Andrea was ready to walk away as soon as the whole burial thing ended.

Casey had walked up to her with a blue and pink bracelet in hand. One she made with Sophia. "Andrea?" Casey asked, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Hi, honey." Her teary voice said. Casey put her hand out to give the bracelet to her.

"Um, I made you this. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about Amy." Her voice was still nasal from getting hit, but also from crying.

Andrea pulled her in, hugging her close which was quite a surprise to the young girl. "Thank you, I love it," Andrea whispered softly. Casey awkwardly wrapped her arms around her, she wasn't expecting that. "Amy said you were a really special little girl, and I see why." She told her, Casey smiled a little bit, pulling away.

Lori, Rick, and Carl were waiting for her now. So, when Andrea walked off they went off behind her. "Burying other people is bad enough, but the thought of one of us-" Rick whispered with Casey's hand in his.

"Shhhh." Lori hushed him since. Amy was in front of them.

She stopped all of the Grimes, and Carl turned around, as did Casey. Rick crouched down in front of them, not letting go of his daughter's hand. Lori put her hand on Carl's shoulders, and he looked up at Rick. "Are we safe now, Dad? Now that we're together?" Carl asked, Casey looked for an answer as well.

"I won't leave again. I promise you that. Not for anything." He told them. Carl started crying again, and Casey just stood there rocking back and forth on her feet again. He put his hand on Carl's cheek, looking up at him. "Now, give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom, okay?" He asked in a slight whisper. Carl sniffled, nodding his head.

"Yeah." Carl agreed, Rick pecked a kiss on his daughter's cheek before Carl took her by the hand.

"Pinky promise you won't go?" She asked him, Rick was shocked by her for a moment. She hadn't pinky promised/swore in a while, not since before he went into the coma.

"Pinky promise." He interlocked their pinkies and kissed his thumb and she did the same. He ruffled her hair slightly. "Go with your brother, then I gotta talk to you." He said lowly, she nodded her head. She knew she was probably in trouble because of Shane talking about her smart attitude.

"C'mon, Casey!" Carl exclaimed, grabbing her hand.

"I'm coming!" The two went off running, leaving the two parents smiling at them.

"Be careful!" Lori yelled at them.

"Uh huh!" Casey agreed, dragging Carl behind her now.

"Come on, slow poke let's go!" She yelled, Rick and Lori watched the siblings and shook their heads at her bossiness with smiles.

"I'm not slow!"

"Are to!"

Once they got back to camp, they let go of their hands and went for a walk. "Casey?" Carl asked her, she looked at her older brother.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry for excluding you, and we changed the age to seven and older, so you can play with us now." He told her, she grinned looking at him.

"Thanks."

Maybe it was a little too late for that...

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

          "𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐘 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒, we gotta talk." Rick reminded her as he walked back into camp. He, Shane, and Dale had to go out and make sure there were no walkers or anything.

"Full name, huh," Louis commented making the little girl sigh. She looked up to see Rick standing there looking at her.

"'Bout what?" She played dumb as to what they had to talk about.

"You know what, come on your feet." He lifted her up by the armpits and got her to stand up.

"Yes, Drill Sergeant." She joked, he shook his head at her and his hand went on her middle back as they started to walk.

Rick was usually the one who could talk some sense into her. He did it calmly, but he was always stern. He didn't believe it was the type of parenting where you scream at your kids slap them, or inflict any type of harm on them. But he didn't do gentle parenting. He wasn't the let's talk about it and how that makes you feel. He's stern in simple terms.

"I don't like how you're talkin', Casey." He told her as they walked around. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Sorry," She apologized, looking down at the ground.

"You can't talk back to people like that."

"I'll go back to not talking at all"

"Casey." He scolded, she looked away biting her thumb. "Look at me." She looked up at him rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Don't talk, think." He quoted his father. When Rick was a kid, probably around Casey and Carl's age, he had a massive attitude problem. He'd constantly talk back to his parents, he had funny one-liners, but he talked back a lot. Just like Casey Grimes would...

"Can I say what I'm thinking?" She questioned like a smart ass, rocking back and forth on her feet again. He nodded his head, "Mom wants you to talk more." He let out an annoyed sigh, shaking his head.

"Excuse me, young lady?" She looked up at him, her arms going out to her sides

"Ya told me to think and I thought of a response, then when I say it you get mad." He shook his head at her. She knew exactly what he meant by the statement. She was just a smart ass.

He crouched down in front of her. "Remember what I said about Mrs. C? How even if she says somethin' you don't  like you just gotta be respectful?" She nodded her head. "That carries with everyone. You gotta be respectful, Casey."

She didn't argue.

She just nodded.

Rick nodded his head, as she looked up at him. He put his hand on her back and walked over to camp with her.

"I want you to apologize to your Uncle Shane-"

"He's not even my real..." She cut herself off, looking down. Don't talk, think. She only nodded her head looking up at Rick. "Okay,"

Progress.

"And Daryl." She nodded again, thinking of curse words in her head since she couldn't say them.

"Why Daryl?"

"Want a medal?" He quoted her from before, and she sighed.

"But-"

"There is no if, ands, or buts, you apologize to him or you're in deep trouble."

She let out a deep breath, dragging her feet behind her as she walked. "Okay," Nothing was said after that.

Well, that was before she looked up at Rick and said:

"See? I thought before I said that."

Back to square one.

When getting back to camp, the two walked by everyone, who was sitting around. Shane saw his best friend and goddaughter and stood up.

"I uh, I've been thinkin' about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no- there are no guarantees either way I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts." Shane told everyone. The father and daughter sat down next to the rest of their family as he spoke. "I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the mornin'. Okay?" Shane questioned, but no one said anything.

Shane stood up, resting his gun against a chair. Rick tapped Casey on the back, tilting his head toward Shane. Casey frowned and got on her feet, following behind him.

Her feet dragged behind her and she couldn't catch up since Shane was a fast guy and his legs were so long. So, she had to run up to his side. "Uncle Shane?" She asked, he looked down at her, stopping in his tracks.

"What's up?"

She looked at Rick who was watching her like a hawk. She turned her head back around, rocking back and forth on her feet again. "I'm sorry for talking back to you." She apologized, he crouched down next to her taking a deep breath.

"You know it ain't right to do that. Can't talk back to adults." He told her, she nodded her head.

"Uh-huh." He patted her on the shoulder.

"Alright, thank you." He stood back up and started walking off.

She looked over at Rick who was now tilting his head toward Daryl.

"Son of a bitch," She whispered, clenching her fists at her sides.

Apologizing to Daryl Dixon wasn't fun.

"Daryl?" She asked, him if he was further away from everyone else.

"Hell, you want?"

"I'm..." She let out a deep breath before continuing to speak. "I'm sorry for talking back to you." He furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at her.

"Hell, you talkin' about. That's a conversation works." She shook her head at him, looking at Daryl.

"No, like, running my mouth. When I asked if you wanted a medal for being able to shoot a turkey in the eyes. That's called talking back."

"Oh, yeah. Parents shoulda slapped ya on the mouth for that." She looked at Rick who was once again making sure she was apologizing.

"Okay, well, I'm sorry."

"Whatever, I don' care." She just stood there, not knowing what else to say to him. When he noticed how she wouldn't leave, he just looked at her.

"Scram, you little pipsqueak." She glared at him before walking off.

She also thought a lot about what NOT to say to Daryl Dixon at that moment.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

a/n:

casey and daryl have so much beef ngl.