Chapter 1: No Man Left Behind
Leaves crackled unceremoniously under her feet as she scrambled away from the safe haven. Her feet were covered by a pair of hiking boots that had once donned a lumberjack who went by the name of Poot and were several sizes too big for her. They were the first thing she could get her hands on in such a hurry. As the foliage crunched beneath Poot's boots her heart pounded harder and quicker in fear but she refused to look back. There was too much at stake.
She had seen smoke; there was no mistaking that. There was someone else in these woods and by God she would find them and bring them back.
Daryl Dixon cussed softly under his breath as Rick spoiled yet another trap. The man peered contritely at him while Shane rose from the crouched position he had adopted over his hunting lesson. Daryl rubbed his temples crossly before rising from his haunches. Whose brilliant plan was it to teach these goons how to hunt game? Oh yeah, his.
"Well," he remarked while stretching. "It looks like y'all gon' be eatin' squirrel again tonight."
Both Rick and Shane's stomachs squirmed at the awful thought but they did their best to hide it and show some form of appreciation for the hunter. Not only did he provide the group with large and small game to eat but had offered his own efforts to teach the two men how to hunt. If it hadn't been for the fact that Rick had a minor tendency to fidget the crew would have been able to enjoy a nice deer for a change. Daryl made sure to remind them both of that.
However, if he was to be honest with himself, he wasn't sure it was Rick's fault the deer spooked or something else. Maybe he was going crazy but he could swear he heard something heading in their general direction.
"Listen, man, I'm sorry," Rick began apologetically. Daryl shushed him with a hand and motioned for them to crouch back down. There was definitely something coming. It didn't sound like a walker; its movements were too steady for that. But then again these things were full of surprises.
It tumbled out of the trees and stumbled into the stream where the trio was stationed; letting out a light gasp as it fell. Walkers didn't usually gasp and this one didn't seem to notice them or smell them or even want to find them. It gracelessly rose up from its fall and began to frantically race back up towards the highway. Great, there was a fast walker heading towards camp; better kill it quick.
"Hey!" he shouted maliciously with his crossbow aimed for its face.
It stiffened before turning to face him. Suddenly he noticed that it wasn't the gook he had expected but a girl. She couldn't have been older than twenty-five with blue eyes and brown streaked golden hair that was tied into a messy pigtail on the right side of her head. She looked horrified but very much alive. Rick and Shane immediately stood from their hiding spots to rush to the damsel. She whimpered softly at the sight of them and began scrambling away from the seemingly imposing men; she was headed back the way that she came now. Immediately they began to follow but it was Shane that caught the girl by her forearm yanking her around to face them. If it had been a man, Daryl would have his bow out and ready to fire but the poor thing in front of them seemed too distressed to handle something like a crossbow to the temple. She moaned softly before trying to squeeze past them but Shane held her back.
"Have you been bit?" he demanded sternly. She frantically shook her head before trying to push past them again. Rick held her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes while Shane and Daryl checked her briefly for wounds or bite marks. She didn't appear to have any. There was a little blood on her shirt but nothing that raised alarm.
"What's your name, darlin'?" Rick asked gently.
She didn't answer the question, just bit her lip nervously while eyeing Daryl's crossbow.
"We aren't going to hurt you. My name's Rick," Rick comforted. "What are you doing out here by yourself? Do you have anyone else with you?"
She nodded her head before taking the former Sheriff's hand in her own and dragging him towards where she had been trying to run back to. With urgency in her eyes she pointed her hand forward and began another panicked trek through the woods. The men followed her and they all seemed to wonder the same thing. How did this woman survive this long in these woods?
She led them to a small ramshackle cottage just a few miles west of where they were hunting. It was in a small clearing and it looked like the most unstable shelter for these dark and dangerous times. Just a few feet away from the door were two walkers with their skulls smashed to bits. The girl raced up the porch and beckoned them inside. The men hesitated briefly but went in behind her anyways.
Inside was a man with a full head of grey hair lying on the couch and he seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain. There was blood pooling from a wound on his ankle and no one had to guess where it came from. The man groaned before the girl raced beside him. Daryl raised his bow prepared to shoot the two of them. The girl could be lying about being bitten.
"No, I told you not to come back here," he scolded, trying to shoo her away as she knelt down next to him. "I told you to find help and never come back! You know what's going to happen to me, so go!"
The girl gave the man a dark look before shaking her head and pointing towards the three men who still lingered by the door. The older man gasped before limping away from her and them.
"Please, take the girl and go…" he pleaded with his hands raised. "I don't want her here when I…" He didn't want to finish the sentence.
"How long ago were you bitten?" Rick asked, lowering his hat. The girl went from the floor to the kitchen where she found water bottles. She pulled out a plastic cup and poured the water into it, handing it to the infected man when she had finished.
"'Bout an hour or so ago, the fever hasn't kicked in yet," he answered honestly. "Are you men…?"
"No, we aren't," Rick answered before the man finished. "May name is Rick Grimes. We have a camp up the stream a ways back from here. Your girl gave us quite the scare. Do you have a name?"
"Charlie," the man answered gruffly as he turned down the scraps of food that the girl offered him. "No, child, you save those for yourself. There's no savin' me now."
"What's her name?" Daryl finally asked unable to ignore the pleading look in her eyes every time she looked at them.
"Kailey." He was cut off by the sound of glass shattering. It seemed that she had smashed a plate in frustration. "I think she's got it in her head that you can fix me… She also don't like when I call her by her name."
"Is she mute?" Shane asked cautiously. Charlie shook his head.
"Not that I'm aware of. Catatonic is more the word to describe her," Charlie said sympathetically as the two of them had a staring match. "I've been trying to get her to talk but I haven't had much luck so far."
"She your daughter?" Rick asked.
"No," Charile replied. "Her group passed through here about a month ago. Turns out she hasn't been speaking to anyone for a while now. They left her behind with me. Thought she was too much trouble, I imagine."
"So what happened to you?" Shane murmured. It was clear that the man was going to go downhill pretty quickly.
"Well the little miss and I were out for a walk and were attacked. Thank God she wasn't hurt at all. I made sure of that. I'm not so lucky though," he answered, gesturing towards his ankle before settling on the couch. "Please, you have to get her out of here… and if your armed friend could do me the courtesy… I wouldn't be able to thank you enough."
Daryl lifted his bow to level with the man's eyes. "You sure you want this?"
"Yes," the man answered calmly. "It'll be better this way. I won't have to suffer before or after death."
Suddenly there was something in the way of Charlie's face. It was her. She glared coldly at him before she stood in the bow's line of fire. This girl did not know when to give up. But after a moment her glare turned into a face filled with sorrow. Daryl couldn't really blame her. After being tossed aside by a group of people this man was the one who kept her safe. He sighed and lowered his weapon.
"Now listen, child," Charlie chastised sitting up with a groan of pain. "You know what's going to happen to me now. I know you know because you screamed like you ain't ever screamed before when that thing got hold of my boot. There ain't no cure for this and you gotta let these men help me keep what little dignity I have left."
The girl shook her head anxiously and scowled deeply. She seemed to be reliving a memory worse than this one.
"Kailey?" Rick ventured, stepping forward with his hand held out to her. "I know it's tough to say goodbye but how about you and I go on ahead and I can bring you to our campsite?"
She shook her head wildly and tried to knock the bow from Daryl's hand. It was more than obvious that she was trying to stop Charlie from opting out of his torment. Daryl grunted and nudged her aside. Shane wrapped a gentle yet firm arm around her, locking her body into his chest, and began to take a few slow steps backward. She struggled in earnest at first then finally gave up and settled on weeping silently with her hands outstretched towards him.
"Thank you…" Charlie whispered hoarsely. "Good luck to you, Kailey. I hope you find your voice again."
"I'd get her outta here if I was you," Daryl said without pity. "This ain't gonna be pretty."
Shane's grip tightened and he began to back towards the door. She didn't fight him this time and soon they were outside of eyesight. Daryl may not mind killing this man but he would mind doing it in front of a frightened woman. There were some things girls shouldn't have to see. This was one of them.
"Look after her, please," Charlie murmured not to Rick but Daryl. Why was he talking to him? "I don't know why those people left her behind. She is a sweet girl. She's lost her fiancée and family… her friends left her here with me and now I'm… going to…"
"Die," Daryl finished for him.
"Thanks for sugarcoating it," Charlie murmured sarcastically. "Promise me that you people won't leave her behind."
"We won't," Rick vowed.
As Charlie nodded his head and closed his eyes Daryl released the trigger on his crossbow. Better to surprise the guy with it. He wasn't going to die afraid that way. The Sheriff and the hunter stood for a moment in silence.
"Do we even got room for her?" Daryl asked gruffly. "We'll have to pick up supplies if we are bringing her along."
"There's food here, let's take what we can for now. She can ride in your truck," Rick answered coolly. "You don't mind having a riding buddy, do you? I think she will keep quiet."
"Nah, it's fine," Daryl said quietly as he began to pack up some canned goods and preserves that were scattered in the cupboards. Apparently this Charlie guy was living off of canned soup and Ritz crackers.
After the raid they stepped outside where they found Shane leaning against the porch. Kailey sat with her head between her knees trying to catch her breath. Over to their right was a small puddle of vomit. Shane didn't seem to like her very much. He probably wouldn't like having to keep her around camp either. Then again, Shane didn't seem to like anybody since the Sheriff came around. Rick sighed and knelt beside her.
"It's done," he murmured softly but this brought no response. All she did was stand up and walk inside the cottage. They waited outside wondering how much space to give her.
After a few minutes she emerged from the house with three backpacks: one slung across her left and right shoulders and the third she held in her left hand. She eyed them apathetically before turning and heading deeper into the woods. Rick caught up with her and placed a hand on her shoulder before she took more than two steps.
"Listen," he pointed towards the still open door, "I made your friend in there a promise. There's no way anyone could survive that forest, not alone at least."
"I could," Daryl argued obstinately. Rick gave him a slightly bemused glance.
"Except for this guy, maybe," he appeased, nodding in Daryl's direction. She turned her head to stare briefly at him before facing Rick again. "Now, I'm giving you the chance to come with us. There are more people at the campsite and we do alright by ourselves."
Kailey bit her lip, trying to weigh her options. She had been staying with Charlie for a while and he hadn't seemed to mind her silent lament. She had the strong feeling that this group would. She looked at the other two men briefly. The man with the shaved head had the same look in his eyes that plagued hers. He had done something bad too…
The other one looked like a hillbilly. Yes, that was the best way to describe him; a good for nothing hillbilly. He cocked his brow at her before crossing his arms over his chest. Despite the fact that he had just put her friend down like a dog he seemed to be fairly loyal and trustworthy. Kailey liked people like that.
The man in front of her seemed hell bent on saving her life and she hated that. Before all of this had happened she used to be such an optimistic and upbeat woman. Now, she just wanted to be left the hell alone; to feel on the outside what she felt on the inside. At some point in the past four months she had stopped feeling the pain and the horror and now just felt empty. Most mornings she didn't want to make it through the day. She did because she had made a promise. Just like Rick had promised Charlie. She reckoned she could honor his wishes and join them in their travels. She nodded her head slowly.
"Well then, we had better get going. It'll be dark soon," Rick said as he patted her shoulder and pointed to Shane and Daryl. "That there is Shane and the one with the crossbow is Daryl. You need anything you just holler for one of those two."
"I don't think she's gonna do much talking," Shane noted. He seemed irritated with her already. She nodded her head without shame. He rolled his eyes. "She's gonna be helpful, ain't she?"
"Shut up," Daryl hissed, nudging the former cop. "If she wants t' talk she'll talk."
Shane just rolled his eyes. This was just going to be another pain in the ass for him to deal with.