I'll start off by apologizing for any spelling or other mistakes made. Because I'm sure there will be some. I do apologize for how crappy it is as well.

If you're even reading this, thanks for giving my story a chance, I hope you like it. The first chapter is a little rough I'm sure, so I hope you stick around for the other chapters to come.

I'm rewriting this story, I don't like how it is. I won't change the plot much, just update the writing and changing the POV. I'll put a note on the ones that have been updated.

Sequel has been posted.

Word count: 4,007

(Rewritten)

Peace. Such a small word that means so much. Something most people strive to find in their lives but only few succeed in. There are many different versions of peace. The quiet or loud noises. Isolation or being around others. It's a never-ending list, but an important one.

Small, simple things can bring peace. Certain smells, a favorite book, whatever it may be. Most people take these things for granted and it's not until they're gone that we realize how much we relied on them. How much we needed those small things in our lives.

So even on your busiest day, hardest days, it's important to find that small thing. Whatever it may be that brings you that small amount of peace. Life has a tendency to eat away at you, it takes and it takes away from us. So we have to take something back because if we don't there won't be anything left of us.

This is where a fifteen-year-old teenager finds herself. Sitting away from others on the forest floor, watching the leaves get carried by the breeze. It's a simple act, but one she enjoys.

She hadn't been there long when a not so distance blaring noise gains her attention. It's coming towards camp, she knows. So, jumping to her feet the girl jogs through the woods, reaching the clearing right as the noise gets cut off.

"Yeah, everybody is." A young, dark-haired man says, addressing another, older man. "Well, Merle not so much." Those words snapped the girl's eyes from the car and towards who had spoken.

She wondered what he meant. Was Merle dead? Injured? Thoughts of the man's brother went through her head. She knew he wouldn't be happy about this news. It's probably a good thing he wasn't here at the moment.

"Are you crazy driving this wailing bastard up here?" Shane, the older man, asks Glenn, ignoring the words about Merle. "Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay." Dale says from behind Shane as the teenager leans against the other side of the car, away from everyone.

"You call being stupid okay?"

"Well, that alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source." Dale states calmly, defending himself when Shane shoots him a look. "I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. I wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" He asks Glenn, giving the young man a pointed look.

"Sorry. Got a cool car." Glenn says, gesturing towards said car as the teen shakes her head at him. Before anyone else could speak up, the sound of an approaching car reaches their ears and everyone turns to see a big white van.

"Amy!"

"Andrea!" The two sisters call out, running to each other before throwing their arms around the other in a hug.

Jacqui walks up behind them while Morales runs to his wife and kids. T-dog behind them all. "How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asks, drawing my attention to him.

"New guy, he got us out." Glenn answers. His words piqued the teen's curiosity. She was wary of new people. They were bad enough before the world went to shit.

"New guy?"

"Yeah, crazy vato, just got into town. Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello." Morales calls as the vans driver side door opens. "Guy's a cop, like you."

Everyone's watching as the man approaches. He's around Shane's age. Short brown hair and wearing a police uniform. No one knew what to think of the newcomer but Carl, a little boy standing next to his mother, calling out to the man wasn't one of them. "Dad! Dad!"

Head whipping to the side, the dark-haired teen watched Carl run towards the new guy, hugging him as they both fall to the ground. Well, that was not what she expected.

The young girl continued to watch as Lori joined the two, a small smile pulling at her lips. Family. There's nothing like it. Something you should never take for granted, your own blood. People you're connected too. It's hard to get and so easy to lose. Family should always be there for you, never abandon you. That's how it should be, but sadly it's not. Not always. Whatever family you have, you should hang on to them for as long as you can.

Because not everyone has a family.

Later that night everyone sat around a fire, listening to Rick talk about what happened to him. Well, almost everyone. A certain teenager took to lying atop the RV, looking to the stars.

She wasn't a big people person. Never had been. It was easy to feel crowded and uncomfortable around people. Especially ones you don't know.

Surprise came easily to the young girl when she opened her eyes to see the sun slowly rising over the trees. She must have fallen asleep, she reasoned as she sat up. It wasn't often she got a full nights sleep with no interruption. The teen often found herself waking during the night.

Stretching her sore muscles, the girl notices a blanket lying over her legs. Didn't have that last night, she noted as someone spoke. "Morning, Charlie." Squinting her tired eyes, the girl looks over to see Dale sitting in his chair. "Sleep well?"

"Sorry." The teen mumbled, rubbing her blurry eyes. "Didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Nah, you're alright. I just didn't have the heart to wake you." Dale shrugs with a smile. He was a nice man, something she wasn't exactly used to.

Neatly folding the blanket, the teen stood and mumbled a quick "Thanks." To Dale before slipping off the back of the RV with a plan to put the blanket inside.

Being quiet as to not wake anyone sleeping, the dark-haired girl sets the blanket on the table before making a quick exit. It was still early, not many people were awake yet. The sun hadn't finished rising. It was already really hot out though.

Grabbing her bag, the teen makes her way down to a secluded area by the water. It wasn't clear but it didn't look bad. Not that it matters. Beggars can't be choosers and all that.

Letting down the long dark hair from its ponytail, the girl reaches into her bag for a small towel. Removing the button-up she had on, she leaves the tank top that was under it on. Grabbing the towel, the teen walks down to the water to wash up.

Finishing quickly, the girl takes a moment, letting her eyes scan the water. It's was nice now, quiet. But Daryl will most likely be back later and he'll find out about Merle. It doesn't take a genius to know that's not going to go over very well.

Pulling her knees to her chest, arms on top of them, a few black marks on the girl's inner forearm catches her attention. She runs her fingers over the tally marks, thinking about what they meant.

Snorting at the memory of when she got them, the girl shakes her head and notices how high the suns gotten. Everyone will be up by now. She almost hesitated when slipping back on the long sleeve shirt. It was really hot out. But the tattoos weren't the only marks she wanted to hide and quickly shook the thought away.

Trekking back up to the camp, damp hair falling over her shoulder, the young girl listens closer when voices reach her ears. "Look at 'em. Vultures." Glenn says. "Yeah, go on, strip it clean." Jim was taking apart the red car he drove into camp the day before.

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." Dale says as he walks by with a red fuel can.

"Though I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn mumbles sadly.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Risk says, patting Glenn on the back before walking away. It doesn't make much sense to the teen. Seeking comfort through human contact.

Sighing, she spins around and makes her way to the RV's ladder. Climbing it the teen hears Shane pull up in his jeep with water for the camp but he goes ignored by her as she walks to the other side of the vehicle, perching on the edge before pulling out a small notebook.

Opening the brown flaps, the teen rest it in her lap and carefully brings the lead of her pencil down onto the paper with the occasional glance at the red car.

It wasn't long that she sat there, drawing before loud, high pitched screams caught her attention. She'd recognized the screams of children from anywhere and didn't hesitate to drop what she was doing. Quickly, the girl made it off the RV, running in the direction of the noise as soon as her feet hit the ground.

She made it to the edge of the camp, jumping over the rope and tin cans as the children come running forward, seemingly unharmed. She probably should've left it at that, the teen thought as she crept around the corner they'd come from. But once they were safely in their parent's arms, she could stop her curiosity.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Coming to a stop, the teenager observes the reanimated corpse munching on a, thankfully, dead deer. A dead deer with three arrows sticking out of it. Right as the girl was going forward to retrieve them, comfortable in the knowledge that the dead guy was to distracted to notice her, a hand landed on her shoulder.

Quicker than a blink of an eye, the teen spun around and knocked the hand away, sending a glare up at Shane as she took a step back. He hadn't meant anything by it, she knew deep down, he was just trying to back her away from the threat.

The group gathered didn't pay her much mind after that, instead choosing to circle the corpse as it feasted on the dead animal. The girl thought about pulling the knife from her its sheath from where it was hidden under her shirt. It wouldn't be hard to sink it into the rotting skull of what was once a man. He was crouched on the ground and distracted. But with everyone around, she didn't bother. She didn't have to either. Only a moment later went by before the others took care of it. Not very efficiently she may add, but soon his head was rolling away.

While they were distracted with their more than necessary beating of the dead guy, the teenager removed the arrows from the deer and stood back, examining them for cracks or breaks when a rustling noise gathered everyone's attention.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl says as he pushed past a few twigs, looking at the now useless dead deer lying on the ground. "That's my deer. Look at it, all gnawed on but this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard."

Twirling one of the arrows between her fingers, Charlie raises a brow at the man's language, watching him kick the dead guy's body.

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale states in his normal calm Dale voice.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"?" Raising a brow, Charlie continues to watch the scene in front of her as Daryl gets in Dales' face before turning back to the deer. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane states.

"That's a damn shame. I got us some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

Bored with what had come of the situation, the grey-eyed girl was about to leave when she remembered the items held in her possession were not her own. Hold the three objects in one hand, the teen reaches out and taps Daryl's arm, gaining his attention only to hand him his arrows before turning to finally leave.

"Merle!" Daryl shouts out behind her, followed by many other footfalls. Shits about to hit the fan, the girl mentally sighed to herself as she once again climbs the RV. "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! Got us some squirrel, let stew 'em up."

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." It was Shane who spoke, placing a hand on his hip and clenching his jaw as he stopped in place.

"About what?" Nothing you're going to like, Charlie once again kept her internal dialogue going.

"About Merle. There was a- there was a problem in Atlanta." Shane tells Daryl as he stands in front of him.

Looking around, Daryl takes a moment before he responds. "He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl shouts a lot less calmly than before.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick says, walking forward.

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?"

"Your bother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal." Just rip the bandaid right off, usually works best. "He's still there."

"Hold on," Daryl says as he turns his back to Rick. "Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!?"

"Yeah." Rick says, causing Daryl to throw the rope of squirrels at him right before Shane knocks him to the ground. Why is fighting everyone's go-to answer?

"Watch the knife!" T-Dog yells as Daryl stands, knife in hand, swinging it at Rick.

"The hell with all ya'll!" Daryl yells. "Just tell me where he is, so I can go get 'em."

"He'll show you." Lori says from the doorway of the Rv. "Isn't that right?" Wait, so she wants him to leave? Charlie found herself wondering with furrowed brows.

"I'm going back." Rick states with a nod and Charlie's eye roll goes unoticed by all.

"Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douch bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked Rick as they walked into the main area of camp.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl says from his place a few feet away.

"No, I did. Douche bags what I meant." That was almost funny. "Merle Dixion. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Sure, if he didn't like you. Well, maybe.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst-me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick argues back with his partner, mind made up.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asks, obviously not happy that her husband was leaving.

"I'll go." Charlie mumbled quietly to herself, not meaning for anyone to actually hear.

"No." Daryl immediately shot back, not even sparing her a glance as he messed with his crossbow.

Turning her head, Charlie looks up at his tall frame towering over her much shorter one. He was either closer than she thought or had really good hearing. The teen only shook her head and turned her attention back to the others. She didn't expect anyone to let her go, but if they did she wouldn't be opposed. She was bored. And the camp was starting to feel crowded.

"Just saying." She whispers just as quietly as before. Maybe she could help, she was fast, the teen thought to herself. Maybe she'd just get in the way. Who knows, maybe she'd die. The teen couldn't bring herself to care.

"No." Daryl states again, more firmly, looking down at the girl with time. He looked annoyed so the teen just held her hands up in surrender but didn't move from her spot.

"Oh, come on." Glenn says when Rick looks to him, knowing what he wanted.

"You know the way. You've been there before, in and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick finished with a look at his wife.

"That's just great. Now you're going to risk three men, huh?" Shanes asks, obviously not agreeing with this plan.

"Four." T-Dog puts in, raising his hand slightly.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it." Daryl huffs from the seat he'd taken on an overturned log.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Yes." Charlie mumbled to herself again.

"No." Daryl shoots back with an annoyed look in her direction. He wasn't meant to hear that, oops. "Why you?" He asks T-Dog.

"You wouldn't understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four." Dale states.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick. Come on, you saw that walker." Once again bored with the situation, Charlie blocks out everything else until a small voice speaks up, cutting through the others.

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl said this, earning the teen's attention. She felt bad for him, he just got his father back and now he was leaving with the chance of never coming back. No kid should have to be without their parents.

Shuffling on her feet, Charlie hesitates a moment before walking over to sit a few feet from Carl. She did better with kids than adults anyway.

"Okay?" Rick asks Carl as he crouches in front of him, earning him a nod from the little boy in return. He must have said something else that the teen didn't hear. "All right." He says before putting his hand on Carls' head. Again, Charlie thought about the whole contact thing, it gave her chills just thinking about it.

Sometime later, after everyone had moved around, Charlie found herself next to Daryl again. She honestly didn't even know how that happened. At first, she thought he didn't notice her but when he spoke again, she realized she was wrong. "No." Furrowing her brows, the teen looks around before her eyes land on him. "You ain't goin'."

"I didn't even say anything." She quietly states, brows still furrowed.

"Ya didn' have to. You ain't goin'."

The teen didn't know why she wanted to go. She didn't really, just needed something to do. There were too many people around and she couldn't stay out in the woods forever. It felt selfish, she didn't have the biggest desire to help Merle and she'd be the first to admit the guy was an asshole. But she agreed with Rick to some degree, no one deserved to die the way Merle will. The 'to some degree' would be some of the people she's met and wouldn't lose any sleepover.

Charlie didn't know either of the Dixons well, but for some reason, she found herself around them more than the others, Daryl mostly. She didn't hang around much, she was usually on her own or with the kids.

She hadn't noticed she was doing it at first, sticking close to them, until Merle made a comment about it. The teen-only rolled her eyes at whatever it was he'd said before going back to ignoring him. She didn't catch Daryl's reaction because she'd had her head buried in her book, sketching a bird she'd seen earlier the same morning.

Maybe it's that he's quiet, he's not much of a people person. Maybe they relate in some ways. Who knows, Charlie thought to herself, maybe he's annoyed by her presence but doesn't say anything. She figured that was likely. Although he seems like the kind of person to tell someone to go away-probably more colorfully-if he didn't want them around. He hasn't done that, though. Not yet, at least.

Charlie usually finds herself around him when he's doing something like skinning whatever creature he's killed that day or messing around with his crossbow and bolts. They'll just sit there, doing whatever, never uttering a word.

"Don't need no kid to look after, got enough problems as it is." Daryl says, pulling Charlie from my thoughts.

"At the risk of sounding childish, I can take care of myself." The teenager says as she looks over at him. She can take care of myself, been doing it most of her life. Always had to, she thought, no one else would.

"How old are ya anyways, twelve?"

Scoffing, Charlie looks over at him again. People had mentioned before that she looked younger than she was, due to her short, skinny frame. One time a lady thought she was sick because of it, her naturally pale complexion didn't help. It was just how she grew up, food wasn't always around, meals were normal to miss. Although no one around camp paid much mind to the girl, she figured they were worried about their own families, not some random teenager.

"Sophia's twelve," She deadpans. "I'm not twelve. Do I really look like I'm twelve?" She asks him, finally letting some emotion into her voice.

Daryl lets out a scoff that sounds oddly like a chuckle as he collects all his arrows together, walking past Charlie, towards the van. "You didn't answer the question." She whisper-shouts to his back as he walks away. "I'm not twelve." The teen mumbles to herself before standing and following after him.

Moments later as Rick and T-Dog talk to Dale and Jim about using his bolt cutter, Charlie finds herself leaning against the van as Daryl paces inside it. He'd going to wear a hole into it if he does that for much longer.

Jumping at a sudden loud noise, Charlie spins around to see Daryl hitting the horn with his foot. "Come on, let's go!" Looking down, the hunter catches the teenager's annoyed look but only rolls his eyes before he resumes pacing.

When the others approach the van, Charlie backs away. T-Dog climbs in and Rick stops to talk to Shane. They say a few things, Shane gives Rick some bullets and walks off, leaving Rick to walk around and climb into the driver side of the van.

Daryl finally stopped his pacing then and made his way to the back of the vehicle. He reaches up to close the door but before he does, his eyes catch Charlie's dark grey ones. The teenager feels her arm lifting up to give a small wave and to her surprise, Daryl nods in return.

Thanks for reading! It's not the best, I just don't have the energy, sorry. Hope you liked it anyway. Even if the story is complete (this one, there's a sequel) I'd still love to read any thoughts on it.

'-'