Hi Everyone! So this is the continuation of my short stories "The Walking Dead Vignettes".
A few things have changed from my original concept. My original character will now be joining the group of survivors from the very beginning. This seemed necessary if there is to be any kind of relationship between my original character and Daryl, as it seems more realistic that Daryl would take much more time to develop any kind of relationship with anyone…let alone a romantic one with a woman.
Caroline will now be known as Sarah.
The timeline will be played with a bit. Instead of things happening very quickly over weeks, they will take place over a period of months so that each character can develop more thoroughly.
I hope you enjoy it.
I DO NOT OWN THE WALKING DEAD
She's Pretty Much Dead Already
Written By: MoonlightMistress83 (a.k.a. MLM)
Chapter 1 - This "End of the World" Bullshit
The traffic was at a complete stand still and had been for hours and as twilight approached, the weary travelers were getting more agitated by the second.
Sarah sat in her jeep scanning the local radio stations for any new information on the situation and, of course, there was none. Just the same broadcast over and over telling everyone to evacuate to a refugee camp in Atlanta. Sarah sighed and rested her forehead on the steering wheel recounting the conversation she had with her friend in the National Guard currently caught up in the evacuation operation.
"Sarah, I'm telling you, those broadcasts are bogus. There is no refugee camp in Atlanta. Never was, never will be." His voice crackled on the other end of her cell phone making him seem much farther away then only 20 miles.
Her friend had no other useful information to give, as it was on a need to know basis and, obviously, he wasn't in that particular circle. That conversation transpired 6 hours ago and as soon as it ended, she began packing and hit the road. She planned to drive around Atlanta via I-285 and continue on from there. Where? Most likely, back to southern Ohio to check on her family.
Of course, her plan was foiled when there were a million other panic stricken people trying to get into the city from all over the great state of Georgia. Traffic was heavy but steady at first at about 40 MPH, but then gradually slowed until it was at a complete stand still just 5 miles outside the city. No car, or other vehicle, had moved an inch in 4 hours. She tried calling her friend for more information several times, but couldn't get through. Calling her family had also proved futile, as it seemed all cell phone signal in the immediate area was down.
Sarah lifted her head from the steering wheel and took a cursory look around. Hundreds (possibly thousands) of vehicles as far as the eye could see. As she watched the setting sun, she realized she should probably cut the engine on her jeep to conserve fuel. After spending 6 years in the dessert, she was hesitant to part with the chilling AC blasting from the jeeps vents, but now that the sun was setting she could finally stomach the idea.
She rolled down the windows to keep the cab from becoming an oven and killed the engine. Now that her windows were down and the radio was off, she could hear scattered conversations all around her. They all blended together, but she began to focus on one in particular.
Up two car lengths ahead she focused on a small group of men, women and children gathered around an old station wagon. The children, a boy and a girl who appeared to be around the same age, were playing a quite game of checkers on the tailgate of the wagon while the adults, two men and two women, stood nearby discussing their current predicament.
"Mom, I'm hungry" the boy stated from the tailgate of the station wagon.
"I know, Carl. We all are" one of the woman answered. She was tall and thin with long, wavy brown hair and appeared to be in her mid-30s.
"You know, why don't I get him something to eat…" the other woman with very short, cropped hair began before disappearing around the station wagon.
Sarah observed one of the men, she guessed the cropped woman's husband, give her an angry look before blocking her path to the back seat of the car. They exchanged some hushed words that Sarah couldn't overhear, but could easily guess. The skinny woman had mostly likely heard the hushed exchange, if her facial expression was any indication. She then folded her arms and turned to the other man, who had just sat down in a jeep (very similar to Sarah's) across from the station wagon and began scanning the stations the way Sarah had earlier.
"Anything new?" the skinny woman asked the very muscular, dark haired man sitting in the jeep.
"Just the same damn broadcast over and over" muscles answered in a thick Georgian drawl.
Sarah took a deep breath and mentally began to prepare herself. Interacting with most people, especially strangers, took at least that much effort before she could approach them. Being an introvert by nature, she practically had to force herself to socialize in the last year since being discharged from the army. She felt some tug in her chest telling her that she needed to share her inside information with these strangers. They had children, after all.
Her decision made and her courage gathered, she exited the jeep and began weaving her way through the cars towards the small group.
Daryl had been silently watching the woman in the jeep behind his pickup truck in his rear view mirror for the last hour. Merle, his older brother, sat in the passenger seat of his truck high as a kite blabbing words that Daryl assumed were supposed to mean something, but only sounded like gibberish in the manner they were strung together. Daryl had no doubt they made perfect sense to Merle, so he would just nod his head and utter the occasional "yeah" when he thought Merle's tone called for it. Keeping Merle calm was his top priority in a situation like this. As long as he was high and thought someone was actually listening to his insane dialog, Merle was fine.
The cute girl in the rear view mirror became Daryl's distraction from the sound of Merle's slurred one sided conversation. He watched as she leaned towards the dash of the jeep with her brow pinched and assumed she was scanning the radio stations for any new information. Daryl had given that effort up hours before and instead opted to listen to the jumble of voices outside and scoff at their theories about what exactly was going on. He also watched as she tried to make a call or two from her cell phone and smirked when he saw her throw the thing in the passenger seat and then clap both hands on the steering wheel of her jeep before lowering her forehead on the wheel with a sigh. A few minutes he saw her roll down the windows and cut the engine of the jeep before getting out and walking towards a small group of people one car length up from his truck.
"Well, well…look at that fine piece of ass" Merle slurred from the passenger seat. He leaned over Daryl to stick his head out the open driver's side window before bellowing "Shake it, sugar!" at the unsuspecting woman as she weaved through the throng of cars.
"Now he decides to make some fucking sense" Daryl thought before shoving Merle back to his original position on the opposite side of the truck.
Daryl stared straight ahead, but took a quick glance out of the corner of his eye just in time to see the girl turn towards the direction of his truck.
Upon hearing the ridiculous cat call, Sarah turned towards the direction she thought it had come from. Her eyes landed on the light blue pickup truck that was parked right in front of her jeep. The man in the driver's seat was staring straight ahead with a scowl on his face, but the passenger was looking right at her. When she caught his leering gaze, he raised is left hand and shook his fingers at her while winking.
Oh yes, the military had taught her many useful skills, one being how to handle assholes like this.
She walked back to the truck with her arms crossed and stood a foot away from the driver's side window which held the scowling driver. When she ducked her head to get a better look at the passenger, he tried to lean across the driver to do the same, but the driver planted the palm of his hand on the passenger's chest effectively holding him in place. The passenger chuckled at this, but made no effort to move the driver's hand.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I heard you back there. Can you please repeat that?" Sarah asked the passenger with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Fuck if I remember" the passenger answered with a grin, "but you're here now and that's all that matters."
Sarah rolled her eyes before he continued. "The name's Merle Dixon and this prick here is my little brother Daryl". Merle gestured to Daryl with is his chin before knocking Daryl's palm away and leaning closer to her though the window. Daryl signed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"We're going to ride out this end of the world bullshit up in the woods. You're welcome to join us. We're a bit short of room here in the truck, but I'm sure we could squeeze you here in the middle. And, if you don't have a tent you're more than welcome to share mine."
"Shut up, Merle" Daryl interrupted without looking at him or Sarah.
"Ah, come on little brother. We can share!" Merle said with a laugh. "By the way, what's your name sugar?"
Ignoring Merle's question, Sarah replied "That's sounds charming and all, but unfortunately for you, I'd rather fuck one of those walking rotting corpses then touch your obviously STD riddled dick with a ten foot pole."
Shocked by her retort, Daryl turned his head to look at her in time to see her snicker and smirk at him before turning to walk away. As she retreated back into the throng of cars she raised her right hand back at them and said "Good luck, fellas" before reaching the small group of people near the station wagon.
"You can run, but you can't hide!" Merle yelled at her retreating form, knowing she would have to eventually come back to her jeep.
She turned one last time and caught Daryl's gaze across the traffic before calling back, "Who says I'm running?"
The small group of people she was walking towards was already staring at her by the time she reached them at the station wagon. The man with dark hair and muscles tilted his head down and glanced up at her from under his brow with a smirk on his chiseled features.
"I was about to wander over there to see what all the fuss was about" the man said nodding his head towards the blue pickup truck Sarah had just retreated from. Again, his thick Georgian drawl took her by surprise and she smiled widely at him. "Looks like you took care of it yourself though."
"Just a doped up redneck looking to start some trouble. I'm Sarah" she replied holding her hand out to muscles. He took it and gave it a hardy shake.
"Shane. This here is Lori and her son Carl."
The skinny woman with the long, dark, wavy hair approached them with her arms around her son's shoulders giving Sarah a wary look.
"And over there is Carol, her husband Ed, and their daughter Sophia" Shane said while gesturing over to the small family of three.
"It's nice to meet you all" Sarah said while holding up her right hand and giving them all a small wave.
Ok, so that's Chapter 1. I really hoped you enjoyed it.
I will try to update every week. Let me know what you think!
~MLM
