21 "It feels better to give than to receive"

Daniel walks out of the woods, clearing green bushes, stepping on rocks, and circling trees. The blue lake is seen a few hundred meters away.

Upon reaching the trail, Daniel follows him to walk toward the camp.

The gentle breeze of the wind sways a few strands of hair on his forehead. Daniel's ponytail is short and matches well with his jet black hair.

Today is the second day that Daniel since Daniel arrived at this camp, because of the position of the sun it must be 9:10 in the morning. The sunlight is not strong, but it falls on Daniel and he covers his eyes with one hand.

In the distance you can see the bustle of people working in the camp. Daniel thinks that he will have to do some work to pay the "rent" to be able to stay in this camp. I'll find something I can help with. He doesn't really like the feeling of doing nothing.

Although Daniel doesn't care, these people may see him as a useless not to do when they get here. He doesn't want to hear negative rumors or at least those rumors are true.

Daniel saw Lori reading a book and teaching Carl, a blonde girl, and Morales' children, who are a Latino boy and girl with black hair. Daniel assumes they are Morales' children because they called him Dad when he arrived at the camp.

Daniel smiles when he sees that scene, he may have woken up recently, but he knows that it must be difficult to continue studying when your life is in danger and you have to survive in this new world.

Daniel turns his head and walks to the truck where he slept last night… he walks in the back, opens his backpack, grabs something and hides it in his jacket. He closes the jacket, also the backpack and then exits the truck, leaving the backpack inside, under the driver's seat. Daniel trusts that they will not rob him and if they try to do so he will find them. He, although he has the most important things in his body, but he does not want to lose the photo album because they are memories of his life.

After closing the back door of the truck, Daniel begins to walk towards Lori and her group of little students. They were all gathered around a folding table sitting on cut logs. Lori had a book and I read it, the children wrote in little notebooks with pencils and sometimes asked questions. Everyone looked focused on studying and Lori had a smile while teaching.

Daniel doesn't remember if Lori was a school teacher but he seems to be doing well teaching these "kids". "Children" in quotation marks because the youngest is Carl, he is 10 years old with Morales' son who seems to be the same age. Morales's daughter appears to be about 11 or 12 years old and the blonde girl about 14 years old.

-Hello there! I'm sorry to interrupt you in the middle of his study, I just wanted to ask how you are or if you need me to do something. After all I can't do nothing-

Daniel arrives and greets them with a smile.

-There's everything, I was just teaching the children math-

Lori shakes her head smiling and puts the book down.

-I don't like math-

-LOL-

Little Carl pouts and everyone laughs with Lori patting her son's head and telling her that it is important, she must put in a little effort.

-Right, let me introduce you to the children. You already know my son Carl. Children, this is Daniel Villalba, he is like my second son hehe. He is a very good boy so he won't do anything wrong to them-

Lori strokes the head of Carl who was sitting to the right of her. Daniel was standing in front of Lori, on the other side of the folding table. Carl has long, dark brown hair in a bowl cut that reaches down to the nape of his neck and covers his eyebrows. Blue eyes and a small face. This boy will be handsome in the future.

-Of course, he is my friend-

Daniel smiles and extends his clenched fist. Carl smiles too and says that he loves Daniel as he happily extends his clenched fist to bump into Daniel. The other children don't say anything, they just look at Daniel.

-He is Louis Morales, he is Morales's youngest son, you already met him before, and Miranda, his wife-

Lora extends her hand, pointing to a boy sitting to Carl's right, near Daniel. Now that Daniel looks at him closely, he notices that this boy is about 10 years old, with long black hair that covers his ears a bit and covers his forehead with bangs. The boy's eyes are dark brown, not like Daniel's which are honey brown. He is a bit chubby but his eyes show innocence and bravery.

-Nice to meet you partner. Carl's friends are my friends too-

Daniel extends his clenched fist and Luis does as well, although he seems to be nervous. He may be shy, but his eyes show otherwise.

-This girl is Eliza Morales, she is the eldest daughter of Morales and Miranda, Luis's older sister. We ran into her family of 4 of hers when they wanted to go to camp in Atlanta just like us, but it was not what we expected and we all got together to form this camp-

Lori points to the girl on her left side, in front of Carl. The girl is about 11 years old, with fine black hair tied in a ponytail, fair skin, and brown eyes. She is a cute little girl who is looking curiously at Daniel. She saw him yesterday but she doesn't know anything about Daniel, apart from what her father told them yesterday, which is very little.

-Hi beautiful. I hope we can get along-

Daniel extends his clenched fist, Eliza blushes and becomes shy when Daniel calls her out. But she nervously extends her hand. Daniel smiles and leans closer, his fists colliding, showing friendship.

-Lori, what happened when they went to camp in Atlanta, can you tell me? -

Daniel was really curious about this. He only knows that there was a military camp in Atlanta that called people from nearby towns, but something happened and he is gone.

-I don't want to talk about it please-

Lori became depressed and had a dark face remembering that moment.

-Ehh, why don't you follow the introductions? Let's forget about that moment, I won't ask anymore-

Daniel smiled wryly and then tried to change the subject so Lori's mood doesn't rub off on the kids.

-Oh of course, I introduced you to Eliza, now it's her turn ...-

Lori woke up and realized that it was not good to show her depression or other negative emotion of hers to the children, so she wanted to introduce the blonde girl but Daniel interrupted her before she could continue.

-Sophia Peletier, daughter of Carol and that man ... Ed if I'm not mistaken-

Daniel remembered when he saw her at the campfire last night. He looks at Sophia for confirmation.

Sophia is a girl of approximately 14 years old, with freckles on her face, 156 centimeters tall, with straight golden hair to the shoulders and blue eyes. She is a girl in full growth, showing her slim upper body and marked breasts with her clothes. Her butt is a bit out of proportion to her slim body because it's kind of big, showing up in those tight pants. A young woman who is cute and will be sexy in the future. She has a rag doll, T-shirt, and blue tight pants. She seems to be a shy, calm and innocent or pure girl.

Sophia nods to Daniel, but she lowers her head and shakes a little, as if she remembers something bad.

Daniel instantly realized her mistake and pressed her lips together in dismay. He hit Ed a few hours ago because he slapped Carol and he wanted to do the same to Andrea. The man was rubbish, but Carol put up with him, perhaps out of fear. Such a person could not be a good father.

Daniel felt sympathy for Sophia and decided to do something.

He unzips her jacket.

-What's going on?-

Lori asks puzzled.

-I have something for you-

Daniel reaches inside his jacket with his right hand and removes a large bar of Wonka chocolate.

-This is Wonka chocolate, very delicious. I think they would like it more than me-

Then he shows the chocolate bar, the 4 children are surprised because they have not seen or tried one in months. Lori too because she only managed to buy 2 a long time ago and they sold out extremely quickly despite their high prices for the chocolate bar.

-It's incredible that you have one, more in these times. But what is better, you share it, I knew that you have a kind heart. Thanks Daniel, on behalf of these guys and don't give it to me, just share it with them.

Lori smiles warmly after being shocked at Daniel's good deeds. These children have been mentally suffering from all the change that has occurred in the world in these two months and having something to remind them of good times like chocolate is special for them.

-It's okay. But I'm not as good as you think-

At the end of his words, Daniel begins to unwrap the paper, divide the chocolate into 4 parts for the children.

Everyone is very grateful to him, and even Sophia had a small smile. Daniel also smiles when he sees this, he feels good.

-No thanks, eat you, I already ate before-

Daniel tells a little lie when all the children want to share food with him. Since he woke up, he has not tasted chocolate.

-Thanks love-

Lori thanks Carl who gave her some of his chocolate, she accepts it out of kindness and eats it, she likes the taste.

All the children taste chocolate with happy and satisfied smiles on their faces, now they look much more fondly of Daniel. Except for Carl, he always thought Daniel was cool.

The children, after savoring the chocolate well for a few seconds, eat it. And everyone begins to put the leftovers in cloth handkerchiefs to eat later. The apocalypse has even taught children to adapt and ration food because it might be the last they can enjoy.

-Sophia listen to me well. I have met your father, I know what he is like. I don't want to mess with it if you don't want it, but please, he tries to trust me, at least once. Ed might try to do something bad to you, if he does anything to you that you don't like, no matter how small. Then come to me, I will protect you. I don't want something bad to happen to you when I'm here, in front of you and I met you-

Daniel smiles confidently as he strokes Sophia's head

-I ... I ... -

Sophia has some tears in her eyes, she doesn't know what to say, no one has ever said something like that to her.

Carl and Lori look at each other because they know what Daniel is talking about.

-Shh *. Linda, you don't have to say anything cute, just remember what I told you-

Daniel wipes the tears in Sophia's eyes and leaves under the gaze of all who are watching her back.

...

-Let's go. He hits with higher-

Daniel slows his arms and very easily stops a blow to his abdomen.

"I can't! I already told you!" I do not want to do this-

Andrea crosses her arms and turns around angrily.

In an area of ​​the lake near the forest, Daniel was teaching martial arts to Andrea. But there was a problem, a big problem. They were practicing for more than 30 minutes and, although Daniel only taught him the most basic of everything, Andrea could not do it. She has 0% talent for martial arts. Daniel tried everything, but nothing came out right, even a simple blow aimed at his chest with him still. Besides Andrea didn't seem interested, only Daniel wanted him to learn a little to defend himself in somewhat dangerous situations.

- Easy baby, I will not force you to do it if you don't like it, but this is for your good. We can try another day. But I feel that with enough time you can do it. I trust you have talent, maybe not in martial arts, but you do.

Daniel hugs her from behind her, wraps hers around her arms around her small waist and whispers in her ear.

-Thanks. I don't know what I did to deserve you-

Andrea feels a chill run through her body when Daniel hugged her and whispers words. She is grateful to have a boyfriend who cares about her and understands her.

Andrea smiles affectionately and places her hands on Daniel's that are hugging her waist.

They stay a few minutes hugging that way, feeling the warmth of the other.

-Good see you later. I still have one more homework to do-

Andrea kisses Daniel on the lips and temporarily says goodbye to him feeling very happy.

Daniel hugs her again and only after giving her another kiss with her happy smile does he let her go.

-You can stop hiding now. Come here-

Nothing moves. Only the sound of the wind is heard.

-Don't make me go looking for you and treat you like a stalker-

Seconds later, when Daniel was about to walk, a bush shakes and a girl appears among the leaves.

-Sorry-

Amy apologizes with a flushed and nervous face. She didn't want to spy on him, but when she saw her older sister and Daniel together, she subconsciously hid like the previous two times.

-Hi Amy, what a coincidence to meet you here-

Daniel pretends to find her by chance and doesn't see what happened before. As if Amy had never spied on them or been a stalker.

-Ah yes, it is… a coincidence to meet in this wonderful place-

Amy smiles forcibly and pretends really bad. She is grateful Daniel didn't say anything or she would be too embarrassed to see him in the face.

-Do you want to learn a little martial arts? I was teaching your sister a bit too and I think you could use some lessons-

Daniel smiles and invites Amy to change the topic of conversation. He prefers not to discover her now, although it will be fun to see Amy's face when Daniel asked her if she likes spying on people.

-Of course! Although I have never practiced them, I think martial arts are great-

Amy smiles naturally this time.

...

After a few necessary stretches, Daniel begins the lessons.

Fist punches, open palm, kicks, thrusts. Or just weak points of the body for an easier fight.

-Wow! You really are very talented at this, not only do you remember what I told you, the muscles of your body also remember them. But don't let this go to your head, you need a lot of training to really learn anything. But you're on the right track-

Daniel smiles and unconsciously strokes Amy's head. He is about to withdraw her but he sees that she is not angry about it, instead she seems happy, so he continues to stroke her head.

-Thank you Daniel, I will continue to work hard. I like to train with you-

Amy looks into Danidl's eyes and speaks with determination, without the previous shyness or nervousness.

Daniel is pleased with Amy's resolve. It takes this level of determination to truly learn martial arts. But Andrea is only teaching the basics to defend herself, she does not blame her for taking too long to learn. Maybe Andrea just doesn't have a talent for martial arts and Amy does.

-Let's pass the most important lesson I wanted to give you, or rather, this is advice that can save your life. Kick here-

Daniel teaches Amy how to kick in the knee to cause a lot of damage to a Walker at any moment. Walkers' muscles are atrophied or dead, so their joints are weak as are their bones. With a simple hard kick to the knee they will lose their balance and fall to the ground where they are easy to kill.

Amy doesn't know how to fight right now and this move can help her a lot. There are many situations in life that you do not expect to find, but you must face them head-on or flee from there. If your escape route is closed, there is no choice but to fight with everything you have.

Amy tries as Daniel explained. First do the movement slowly to learn it. But Amy accidentally kicks harder than she should use on Daniel's leg, he loses his balance and falls on top of her. Now Daniel has his arms at the sides of Amy's head to support himself with his hands on the ground and lessen the impact.

They both look into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Amy closes her eyes and stretches her lips a little but nothing happens.

-Why don't you get up yet? -

She opens her eyes and Daniel, already up, asks her why he doesn't get up, extending her hand to help her. Daniel has a mischievous smile that makes Amy's fair skin blush. He timidly grabs Daniel's hand and feels her great strength as he effortlessly lifts it off the ground.

-You're hurt!-

Daniel notices a small bleeding cut on Amy's right arm, near her elbow bone. Amy was dusting herself without noticing this cut.

-I'm fine, it's just a little cut. I won't die for something like that-

Amy doesn't care much and tries to touch the wound. She thinks Daniel is exaggerating by exclaiming like that.

-Don't do that, I'll immediately bring some bandages and alcohol-

Daniel grabs her good arm and looks at her intently. Amy is mesmerized by her gaze and doesn't move.

-Sit here-

Daniel lets go of her and then helps her sit on a large rock. Amy does as she asks without saying anything.

...

Daniel runs to the truck where he slept last night. It may be an exaggeration for others. But in this world with no functioning hospitals or abundant medicines, in a small cut a lot of bacteria enter the blood and it is better to treat it before it becomes a more serious problem. Who knows if this zombie virus enters the blood through the air or if the other viruses in the world also mutated because of this new and deadly virus that transforms people into undead beings hungry for fresh meat.

...

-Extend your arm-

Amy extends her injured arm to Daniel with trust placed in him.

Daniel is very focused as he opens his backpack and takes out some things and cleans Amy's wound. Amy moans a bit in pain from the strong itch in her wound but she endures it when she sees Daniel focused and worried about her.

-Set, now try not to squeeze the wound or use a lot of force-

Daniel finishes carefully bandaging her and smiles with satisfaction when he sees her work finished.

-Thanks-

Amy is very happy to look at Daniel's face, his smile grows as well as the warmth in her heart.

-Remember, if someone asks you ... -

Daniel got up and couldn't finish his words when Amy finished his words.

-I fell and made a cut, you helped me and that's all-

Amy laughs mischievously, gets up and starts walking towards the camp. People in the camp will wonder if Amy was bitten like Morgan Jones was scared when she captured Rick.

Daniel shakes his head at this girl's mood swings.

...