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Daryl and Merle came through the trees just in time to catch Layla shoving a handful of grass into her mouth. Merle laughed at her as Daryl rushed forward to pull the grass from her mouth, deep creases of bewilderment forming on his face
"the hell are you doin'?" He asked wiping his hand on his pants "I thought I told you to stay in the truck." The look she gave him sent a twinge of guilt through his chest, her gray eyes hollow and framed by deep purple shadows looked so defeated and unsure
"I was hungry." Brushing stray blades of grass from her cheek Daryl looked to Merle and gave him a short nod
"I know hon but you can't just be eatin' grass, okay?" Merle knelt next to his niece giving her what he thought was a kind and reassuring smile; really it sent uneasy chills up her spine, she wanted to hide behind her dad but knew Merle would never let her hear the end of it if she did so she held as still as she could. She'd found that Merle liked her best when she pretended to be a statue of sorts.
"We got a special job for you kiddo," he rasped out "and if you play your cards right, maybe flash those puppy dog eyes, I'll bet there's some food in it for you." Just the mention of food made Layla's stomach growl and Merle's smile widened wolfishly, grabbing hold of her shoulder he steered her towards the tree line they'd just come from.
"Now there's a big old camp about ten minutes that way," he explained, all his friendly pretenses gone "you're gonna go on that way until you reach that camp, tell 'em your lost and then your dad and I will come get you. Easy peasy."
Looking into the dark trees Layla felt her heart stutter at the thought of having to go in alone; rotting faces with blackened and bloody teeth seemed to snap at her from the shadows, just waiting for their chance to dig into her skin. Reaching behind her Layla clutched at her father's shirt like it was an anchor
"do I have to dad?" She asked in a high voice. Merle snapped his fingers at her bringing her attention from the trees to his stern face
"don't chicken out on me kid, you just gotta walk to that camp and tell 'em you're lost. They'll probably give you some food and a dolly or some shit to hang on to." Against his better judgement Daryl gently pried his daughter's shaking fingers from his shirt and nudged her forward until she started taking tentative steps of her own. She'd barely made it to the tree line before turning back to look at her father and uncle her face pinched and her eyes glassy, Daryl gave her a slow nod
"we'll come get you I promise," he assured her. Despite the doubt she had Layla turned back to the trees and forced her feet to take step after step until the forest seemed to swallow her. Layla didn't want them to see just how afraid she was, to see the tears spill over her cheeks as she left them.
When she saw the tents through the trees Layla almost cried out in relief. Time seemed to drag on in the woods and she had been sure she'd gotten lost while trying to find the camp.
From the cover of the trees Layla watched people mill about the camp, her stomach coiled into tight knots that threatened to worm their way up her throat. After a minute of anxious deliberation Layla decided she was going to approach the young blonde woman who had her back to the trees. Keeping her footsteps light and her breathing shallow she waited until she was right behind the woman to give her a gentle tap on the shoulder.
A blood curdling scream came from the woman and the whole campsite seemed to erupt into chaos. The woman had launched herself from the log and was clawing her way across the dirt trying to escape the perceived threat; a second scream died in her throat however when she flipped over to see Layla standing with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open like a fish, hand still in the air. People from the camp froze, weapons raised and ready, when they saw it was not a walker attacking them but a frightened little girl all on her own. Layla was surrounded and her whole body seemed to shake as her resolve crumbled, she looked back into the trees frantically hoping to see any sign of her dad or even Merle. Movement caught her eye and Layla snapped her head forward to look at a brown haired woman approaching her like she was a cornered animal; her eyes were intense and unblinking
"where'd you come from sweetheart?" She asked in a soft voice.
The woman's gaze only wavered for a moment but the quick flicker of her eyes was enough. Layla spun around to see a tall man now between her and the trees, she tried to bolt around him but he caught her around the middle and easily lifted her off the ground. Despite her kicking and flailing her limbs the man had no trouble hanging onto her
"you best quit squirmin' hon 'cause you ain't goin' anywhere right now," he told her firmly. Keeping his hands tightly wrapped around her arms he sat her down on the log, eyes staring harshly into her own "you gonna tell me where you came from?" In the back of her mind Layla could hear Merle's instructions clearly but the words seem to catch in her throat like water behind a dam. The pressure built but refused to release a single word.
A gentler hand rested on Layla's forearm; the brown haired woman's eyes were still intense but much softer than the man's callous glare
"what's your name honey?" Her throat ached with the effort but Layla managed to whisper her name to the woman "ain't that a sweet name. Now, Layla, can you tell me if you're out here alone? Did you have a group?" A single look from the woman and the man who'd been hanging on to her reluctantly released her arms. Layla shook her head slowly and tried to speak again but only managed to let out a pathetic squeak. The brown haired woman turned to the young blonde and asked her to bring a cup of water, when she pulled a handful of berries out of a red bucket the man behind her grunted and crossed his arms over his chest
"Lori-" he didn't get more than her name out before she looked up at him. A smile was still present on her face but it was no longer sweet, it was strained and dangerous, daring him to argue with her.
Daryl's fingers tensed on his crossbow as he watched some guy pick up his daughter and manhandle her into sitting down. He hadn't been a fan of this plan but couldn't deny that he didn't have a better idea for gaining the groups trust. Layla was their best option, even if he didn't like it. Next to him Merle chuckled
"all this time I thought that little twig of yours didn't have any grit to her," Daryl bit his tongue as he watched a brown haired woman start talking to Layla "got a tiny bit of Dixon to her after all." When they saw Layla shove a handful of food into her mouth Merle stood and Daryl followed
"let's go."
Cracking branches and rustling leaves in the trees sent the campers into action once again all raising their weapons ready for a fight. Lori's light touch turned into a firm grasp at the sound, pulling Layla closer to her on the log as she scanned the trees
"Layla!" Daryl called out from the forest and Layla jerked against Lori's hold on her
"dad!" She called back eagerly. Just as she'd managed to break free from Lori the tall man grabbed a hold of her again looking down right furious
"who is that?" He demanded gruffly. Desperate to get to her dad Layla moved to bite the man. He dropped her arm like it was a rattle snake and Layla sprinted to Daryl who'd emerged from the trees to their left giving him a wide smile. Before she reached him Merle pushed Daryl out of the way and quickly swept Layla up into a bone crushing hug
"are you okay sweetpea?" He asked loudly swinging her from side to side. Merle handed her off to Daryl before the campers could see that she was pushing to get away from him; Daryl pulled her into a genuine hug
"you okay kid?" When she nodded into his shoulder he hummed to himself, relieved that she was no longer responsible for their plan.
"I wanna thank y'all for finding her," Merle told the still armed campers, giving them a grin that showed too many of his teeth "poor little thing ran off into the woods." Lori stepped forward- the grim man close behind her- and gave them a cautious smile
"it was no problem, she found us really and we weren't going to just send her on her way." Her tone made it clear she didn't trust them but that didn't faze Merle in the slightest. He made sure to give Layla's back a light pat before going to talk with the grim man. Daryl had only ever carried Layla a handful of times since she'd come to live with him; now he held her tightly and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder, to close her eyes and escape for just a little bit.
Even though she was back with her dad Layla's stomach was still coiled in tight knots that refused to let her relax. She'd never ask Merle why he'd had her come to this camp and lie to the people but she couldn't shake the feeling she'd done something wrong. Maybe it wasn't that she'd done something wrong that bothered her so much but the fact that she would do it again without a second thought for the rush of approval.