Daddy's Little Girl

Family - 9

Kat’s P.O.V 

I never thought I’d be in a car that could go this fast in my life! What an adrenaline rush! I’m having a great time with David too, knows his way around a good joke. 

“Whoo-hoo!” He screams for what sounds like the millionth time as he sticks his head out of his window.  

“David!” I yell turning the radio down causing him to bring his head back in. “I get it your excited! Wanna tone it done a notch?” I half laugh, half asked. 

"You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He laughs. “I’ve always dreamed of driving one of these babies.” He coos, rubbing the dashboard. 

“Can I drive for a little?” I ask batting my eyelashes. 

“You’re like thirteen!” He laughs, quickly stopping after I punch him in the arm.  

“Actually, I’m like sixteen, and my daddy always let me drive his truck when we went hunting.” 

“Fine!” He huffs, “We’re almost there anyways.” He says pulling over. The alarm still blaring away but we’re accustomed to it now. I whip my door open, racing to the driver's side, nearing knocking him to the ground as I climb in the driver's seat, clicking the seatbelt, the engine still running. “Just keep heading up the road, there’s an opening on the right towards the quarry. Stop when you see camp.” He explains, reclining his seat as he speaks. “Take it easy on the turns.” He adds, tipping his hat over his face. I change gears, giving it some gas as it takes off. I see what he means about the turns. Most of the remaining drive being on a winding road. I follow signs directing me to the quarry after hearing snoring coming from my right. I come to a stop behind an RV, people gathering round at the foreign card.  

“Wake up, we’re here.” I nudge David how jolts awake. He yawns quickly, hopping out of the car.  

“It’s me!” He greets.  

“Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!” A man yells, stomping towards us. 

“We don’t know how!” David answers, both of us laughing.  

“Pop the hood, please.” The man says impatiently, “Pop the damn hood, please. Pop the damn hood!” He yells. 

“What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah.” David says before heading back to the car.  

A girl not much older than me approaches me, “My sister Trinity. Is she okay? Is she all right?” she asks frantically, looking around for her.  

“What?” I ask as her voice is blocked by blaring car alarm and other people yelling at each other. “Yeah, yeah she fine.” I tell her.  

“Is she coming back? Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?” She continues to ask as David comes up beside me.  

 “Yes! Yeah, she’s fine. Everybody is.” He explains looking at the bigger group. 

“Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?”  The same man says looking at me and David.  

“I think we're okay.” The man they call Roy answers.   

“You call being stupid okay?” The same man questions. 

“Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source…” Roy explains, “I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?” He raises his voice looking at me and David. 

“Sorry.” We both say.  

“Got a cool car!” David says trying to lighten the mood, “Oh yeah! This is Kathryne by the way!” he says gesturing to me.  

“Hi! I’m Kathryne Dougherty.” I say waving to them. 

“Ok, this is Roy, Derrick, Shelby, Irene, Clyde….” David begins to introduce but is cut off by the sound of another car coming up the hill, Reginald’s truck. I look back at the woman and her son because something about them is so familiar. I look deeply at each of their faces before something clicks, Irene and Clyde, they look like the same people in that picture! Reginald! Reginald, we did it! We found your family! I think to myself as we all turn to watch them get out. First is Trinity.  

“Shelby?!” She calls, looking for her younger sister.  

“Trinity!” Shelby cries running towards her older sister. Moe the next one to come out, greeted by his wife, son and daughter. The others come out and the rest of the group is reunited. I wait and watch for Reginald to get out.  

“You are a welcomed sight.” Roy smiles to Moe as they both laugh. 

“How’d y’all get out of there anyway?” Derrick, the man yelling asks.  

“New guy, he got us out.” David tells him and I can’t help the smile that creeps onto my face. 

“New guy?” Derrick questions.  

“Yeah, crazy vato just got into town with that little lady right there,” he says pointing at me, “Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello.” He yells for Reginald to come out. “Guy’s a cop like you.” He explains to Derrick. Here it comes, the big family reunion. I think to myself as Reginald makes an appearance. Reginald and Derrick freeze in place, I guess they know each other? He walks over to us. 

“Dad?! Dad!” I hear Clyde yell as he runs to his father with his mother not too far from him. He crouches down and hugs his son, crying. Scooping him up and walks over to his wife who looks like she just saw a ghost. Family hug. Everyone is with their family or talking, David and I are awkwardly standing beside each other not knowing what to do. Reginald looks over at me with a smile and tears in his eyes as he bows his head, I do the same, mouthing ‘Told you so.’ After a few minutes, we head our separate ways, the ones returning head for a wash and change. Regrouping to make dinner, lighting a fire as Reginald tells all of our last few days since we woke up in the hospital a few days ago.  

“…Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. fear, confusion All those things but… Disoriented comes closest.” 

“Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short.” Roy says.  

“I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.” Reginald continues.  

“Mom said you died.” Clyde speaks up. 

“She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it.” Reginald tells his son. 

“When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened.” Irene explains, staring into the fire.  

“Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell.” Reginald chimes in.  

“Yeah.” She says.  

“And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun.” Reginald says looking at me.  

“Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?” Derrick says. 

“I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Derrick. I can't begin to express it.” Reginald says to him. 

“There go those words falling short again... Paltry things.” Roy says. 

“Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?” Derrick yells over to I think Cheryl’s husband as they sit around their own fire. 

“It's cold, man.” Ed shouts back. 

“The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?” Derrick says. 

“Said its cold. You should mind your own business for once.” Ed says causing Derrick to get up from his seat and walking over to him.  

“So how did you two meet?” Irene asks me trying to rein in the focus of everyone.  

“Well, I was in the hospital bout the same time as Reg, our rooms were right across from each other... And-and I just woke up one day, just out of the blue and there he was, lost and confused same as me. Said he had to find his family...” I let out a small chuckle. “Ever since then, we’ve just kinda been stuck with each other...” I joke causing everyone to snicker a little and when I look over Clyde is staring at me. God he’s cute. Lot cuter than the picture of him, looks a little older too! I smile at him causing him to smile back. We were brought out of our little smiling session when Derrick rejoins us at our fire.  

“Have you given any thought to Deacon Dougherty?” Roy asks, causing me to gasp loudly and choke on the air entering my lungs as everyone stares at me. 

“My-my daddy, he-he’s here?!” I choke out. 

“Deacon is your father?! Of course, last name is Dougherty and the accents!” Roy says smacking his forehead. “Yeah he's here, went out hunting and should be back by morning, but he won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind...” Roy continues.  

“You left him behind?!” I yell.  

“We had no choice; I dropped the key and geeks broke into the store. There-there was no time!” Tre says, trying to explain what happened, “I’m sorry, Kathryne. I’m sorry.” I just kinda sit there staring at the fire for a minute before finding my voice.  

“All you people are sick! Who just leaves a man handcuffed to a pipe on the roof of a building?!  There will be hell to pay if he does or doesn’t come off that roof alive!” I bet it was Trinity’s idea, God I can’t stand the b***h…  

“I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me.” Tre says.  

“I cuffed him. That makes it mine.” Reginald protests.  

“Guys, it’s not a competition.” David says, “I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy.” 

“I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him…” Tre trails off. 

“We could lie.” Shelby says snapping me out of though. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I start yelling again. 

“You better watch yourself.” Trinity warns. 

“Or what?! You’re gonna cuff me to a roof and leave me for dead too?!” I say as I get up, knocking my chair over as I storm off to my tent. “Assholes!” I say as I flip them the middle finger, as I pass by all of them. As I reach my tent, I fall on my sleeping bag crying, crying because I may have lost my Uncle, my only Uncle, the Uncle that has always been there for me, even if he was an annoying, racist, demanding, abusive, jerk. He’s still my Uncle, still my family and I love him. I hear rustling from outside my tent and pull out my gun and point it at the tent door.  

“Woah! Don’t shot, don’t shot. It’s me, Clyde.” He says with his hands in the air.  

“What do you want?” I say somewhat harshly as I put my gun away and wipe my eyes. Earle’s not dead… he can’t be dead! The only thing that can kill Earle is Earle, I think to myself for what seems like the hundredth time as Clyde climbs into my tent.  

“I was checking on you, to see if you were… ok.” He stutters slightly with red checks as I look over at him.  

“Why? You don’t even know me.” I say moving a little bit closer to him.  

“I’d like to.” He says looking into my eyes, even in this dim lighting, his blue eyes sparkle like ocean waves. “Kathryne?” He asks. 

“What?” I ask, “Sorry.” I say looking down. 

“It’s not your fault, you just lost someone you love, can’t blame you for that.” He says not taking his eyes off me. “We’ll find him.” 

“And if we don’t?” I ask, starting to cry again as I fall on my sleeping bag. Clyde moves closer to me and rubs my back. I move closer to him and cry into his shoulder, I cry until I fall asleep. Dreaming about all the fun times me and Earle had.  

Clyde’s P.O.V 

God, she’s beautiful, even sleeping with her hair all over her face and her checks tearstained, she’s gorgeous. I think to myself as I move her hair out of her face. I kiss her forehead and leave her tent.  I walk back to the fire where everyone is still talking about Earle. 

“And if Earle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Earle's.” Trinity finishes.  

“And that's what we tell Deacon? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt.” Roy says looking around the group.   

“I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it.” Tre says as he throws something in the fire. 

“We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?” Trinity asks.  

“I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow…. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at… at one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock…  My point Dougherty's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us.” Tre says, then gets up and heads to his tent. Half of us stay till the fire dies out; the other half goes to their tents for the night. After the fire dies, me, mom and dad head back to our tent and get ready for bed, as I lay in my sleeping bag dad sits up to me.  

“I found you, didn't I?” He asks rubbing my head.  

“I love you, dad.” I say, giving him a hug. It feels good to hug him, I can’t remember the last time I hugged him.  

“I love you, Clyde.” He smiles than kisses my head; it feels great to be a family again. Those were my last thoughts until I fell asleep, dreaming of a girl with brown hair and big brown/blue eyes. Kathryne.