(Untitled)
No, not now, I thought to myself, everything ad been going so well until now. I stood horror struck as a herd of walkers started to descend upon the Shoppers Drug Mart my mother and I had been raiding. I shook myself from my stupor, grabbed my mother's hand and drew my trusty katana from its sheath on my back. We ducked behind the postal counter and peeked over the edge to get a better view of my surely gruesome death. About twenty-five walkers had made their way through the broken glass windows in the front of the store. They shuffled their way further into the isles, and I knew my only chance at survival was to make it over to isle 15 and sprint through the broken glass. I kept a death grip on my mom's hand as we silently crept through the pharmacy, inching closer and closer to cosmetics, and our seemingly perfect escape route. I was extremely scared but just the feeling of my mom's warm hand in mine drove me forward. I had to stay strong for her, she'd lost to much already, she didn't need to lose me to.
As we pasted a display for the next "revolution" in mascara we saw a lone walker directly in our path of escape. I knew it was going to come to this sooner or later, you can't just sneak through life when the dead come back to have you for lunch.
I turned to my mother, careful not to knock my pack into the numerous shelves that surrounded us. " I'm going to take care of it.", I whispered in her ear. She said nothing, just took my face in her hands and bore her forest green eyes in to my own dark grey ones like she was trying to remember every detail about me. She slowly nodded and let me go. Moving as quietly as I could across the soiled linoleum I pulled back my sword ready to strike.
It was truly a disturbing sight, it had rollers in its hair, was dressing in filthy silk pajamas and had a massive piece of its face and neck missing. It appeared to be browsing the shelves for facial cleansers when I drove my weapon through its skull. The body fell without a sound as I drew my sword from its head and wiped it clean with a rag from my back pocket. I turned and waved my mother down the isle. We joined hands again and ran for the window.
We were rounding the corner towards the back of the store when it happened. If what was currently shuffling through the isles of shoppers was a herd, then behind it was an army, I counted up to ninety-four before they noticed us. As if they were one single entity they turned their hideous, rotting faces towards us and we ran.
I saw hope in a rickety ladder about seven feet off the ground. It looked as though it had seen better days, but seemed as if it would hold our weight. I quickly glanced backwards and saw the walkers were a mere twenty feet away. I was slightly discouraged by the height of the ladder, being only 5'5 I had to reel my head back to see the bottom rung.
It was now or never though, as the walkers would be upon us shortly, I took a few steps backwards and sprinted towards the wall, at the last second I pushed off the ground and extended my hand. Yes! I caught the rung with my right hand and pulled myself to the next with my left. I climbed up enough so that I could turn around comfortably and looked back down at my mom. She wasn't going for the ladder, she was staring up at me with a look for determination on her face.
"Mom!" I screamed, "Get up here! Mom don't do this to me!" Tears started to running down my face as a screamed for her, but she wouldn't budge. I started to climb down the ladder when the walkers reached her.
She drew her pistol from her belt and just when the first walker sunk its teeth into her arm. I remember screaming for her, but I knew it was too late, I remember only hearing one gun shot as she ended her life before it was taken from her.
I was still screaming when I woke up, yet another night plagued by my mother final moments.
Breathing hard and drenched in sweat from my reoccurring nightmare, I took a second to take in my surroundings. Jack and I had taken shelter in an abandoned townhouse. I had always hated townhouses; with no windows along the length of the house they always made me feel trapped. From the looks of it I had crashed in a young boys room, filled with posters of robots and stray toys throw around the room. I felt a pang of sadness looking around the room wondering what had happened to the family that once lived here.
I extracted myself from the sheets tangled around my legs and grabbed my gear, which lay in a heap near the door. Jack was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, from the look on his face he had heard the screams. When he saw me he quickly stood up and put his hands on my shoulders.
"Was it your mother again?" He asked, his forehead crinkling with lines of worry.
"Yes." I said slanting my head downwards to stare at my shoes. I hadn't told him much about my life when we found each other a few days ago, but one of the things I did share was the horror story that was my mother's death." I can't help feeling that she could still be here with me if I hadn't felt the need to go into that store."
He placed his hand under my chin and gently forced my head up so that he could look me in the eyes, which was painful for me because he had the same eyes as her, a shade of perfect pine needle green. "She knew she wouldn't make it. She made that decision to save your life." He said very slowly and sternly.
"Right, because leaving me in this world alone is so much better than being dead." I yanked my head out of his reach and promptly locked myself in the bathroom, unwilling to let any emotion but anger be shown to the prying eyes of this cruel and dead world. Sitting on the edge of the bath tub I let the tears stinging my eyes break through for the first time since I last laid eyes on my mother being torn apart by the undead.
Might as well make yourself useful I thought, so I started rummaging through the numerous draws and cabinets in the bathroom. A few different types of pain killers and a tooth brush was all I came up with. Finally giving into my vanity, I turned toward the mirror above the porcelain sink and took in my appearance. I had obviously lost several pounds in the past few months but my weight had never bothered me before and I truly missed the curve of my hips. My hair, once a shocking bright red had faded to my natural auburn, had grown a few inched and rested just under my shoulders. My face was seemingly unchanged beside the slight tan that had settles over my freckled cheeks. My eyes were still the same shade of steely grey that had so often kept people away from me. Years of hiding my emotions made them look cold and unloving, so I went along with there look pushing away anyone who tried to care.
I hooked my thumb under the strap of my katana sheath as I walked silently back to the front of the house. Jack was searching through the kitchen cupboards, looking for anything of use. I took this opportunity to study him. He was a few years older then me, maybe eighteen, tall, athletically built but not overly muscular, with wavy brown hair that fell just low enough to obstruct his eyebrows.
He turned and saw me looking; I quickly changed my look of curiosity to one of boredom and annoyance. "You ready to go yet, Pretty Boy? Georgia awaits."
Jack insisted on driving and I didn't argue, it gave me the opportunity to organize my pack as well as my thoughts. I dumped the contents of my bag onto my lap and sorted it into piles. Food rations on the left thigh, extra clothes on the right, personal hygiene items on my knees. I must say that last pile was lacking slightly. I carefully folded my clothes and put them in the bottom of my old high school backpack, my new tooth brush, painkillers and slowly diminishing deodorant sat on top of the clothes and I finished of the stack with my merger food supply. We had more it Jack's bag but not enough to last us more than a few days.
Once I place the bag at my feet I begin to work out the jumble mess of emotions in my head. I was still grieving over my mother, I was confused about my companionship with Jack and I was just plain angry at the world.
I looked at myself in the side view mirror, seeing if any of my numerous emotions were showing on my face. A scowl was resting on my lips, the same scowl I wore so many times in school. My eyes held a new sadness in them that I hated, sadness meant weakness and in this world was no place to be weak. I searched my desolate irises for that old spark of anger but all I found was more and more gray.
With a sigh I sat back and watched the buildings of eastern Alabama give way to rolling Georgian countryside. I wasn't sure why I said Georgia when jack asked my where I was headed. It was where my mom wanted to go, she grew up there and I guess she wanted closure before she died. Obviously she'll never get there, but I can. We ran out of gas in a small town on the outskirts of Atlanta.
Getting out of the car we gathered out packs and started through the unkempt streets, looking for a place to spend the night. We had just settled in an empty pharmacy when jack heard a noise from the rear of the store. I got up and told him I would deal with it. Walking silently down the isles I got terrible flash backs, the walker with the rollers, the ladder, the pistol. I was worried over nothing, for it was just a crippled walker attempting to eat a bottle of Tylenol. I disposed of him quickly and heard something crash in the front of the store. Jack!
I sprinted to the front of the store to find our little camp splattered with blood. A massacred walker rested at Jacks feet. I wave of relief washed over me, so powerful that I ran and threw my arms around his neck. Just as I felt his arms begin to encircle me, I immediately felt awkward and took a step back. His looked down at me some what confused and I felt my ears turn red. Why was I acting like this?
"Glad to see you're okay." Was all he said. I searched my mind for a clever response and came up with this.
"Ditto." Ditto? What the hell is wrong with me? Ditto. Who knew eve after the world ended I'd be so socially awkward.
The days that followed were equally as terrible; every time we found refuge in a building it had several unwanted inhabitants. Our food was running low- Dangerously low- and we had already gathered what we could from the stores and houses in the area.
One day while eating a can of cold cream of mushroom soup I came to the conclusion neither one of us wanted to voice. I had to, we'd starve sooner or later if we didn't. " we need to go into the forest." I blurted.
Jack looked up from his can, his eyes had grown so tired looking these past few days, it was unnerving how fast someone so bright could dim so quickly. "I know, it'll be dangerous though. You can't go wandering off on me."
"I won't." I said with the full intentions of doing it anyway. Things had being really awkward for us and I just need to get away from him for a little while. We made camp in a small clearing a few miles from town. Having walked the whole way I was eager to sleep and Jack said he would take watch so I could sleep, I snuggled down as deeply as I could in my sleeping bag and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
I woke up a few hours before dawn, grateful for the blackness of my empty dreams. Jack looked the complete opposite of how I felt, so I ordered him to get some sleep and I watch the sun rise over the tops of the trees, hearing nothing all at in the dead world besides the rustle of leaves in the late summer breeze.
After I was sure he was asleep I got up and wondered in the near by forest, close enough o see him, but far enough to be on my own for a bit. Of course he woke up as soon as I was fifteen feet away, and of course I ran. I could deal with this anymore, being wanted, being meaningful, I didn't like it, not one bit.
So I ran until my foot caught on a tree root and I was sent head over heels down a steep and extremely rocky hill. About half way down I tried to land to my feet and slow my descent, not smart. Pain shot up my leg from my now surely broken ankle and I continued to tumble down with increasing speed.
I finally came to a stop by ramming my head into the base of a tree, sending an impressive spray of blood across the bark. I lifted my hand to my face and found it hard to focus on my bloodied fingers. Slowly but surely my vision stopped doubling and I was able to take in my surroundings, the first thing I saw was the path of destruction I left down the hill, I then started to turn my head and my heart nearly stopped.
A walker, about ten feet away, had been feasting on a small doe. It let out a hungry snarl and I screamed, scrambling back on all fours, ignoring the intense pain in my right leg. I heard Jack calling my name, crashing through the forest to reach me, but I could tell he was too far away to be of any help. I didn't have my katana but I had a small hunting knife on my belt and with great effort I got to my feet. I set to much weight on my right ankle and a wave of nausea forced me back to the ground.
So this is it, this is how I'm going to die, alone and helpless. Sounds about right. These were the words that went through my head; the walker was right in front of me. I was barely conscious when I heard the whistle of something flying through the air, and saw and arrow sprout from the walker's skull. Then I blacked out.
For what felt like days I was consumed by pain, pain in my head, ankle and heart. If I hadn't ran this wouldn't have happened, what ever this was. I'm pretty sure I'm not dead, I don't think the pain of dying would last this long. But I'm not sure what had happened in the forest, the arrow that came from no where, some time after I was some what aware of someone carrying me and yelling in a gruff voice, then nothing but pain.
After days of agony I finally came to in a small folky bedroom. I was in a bed covered in soft linens and my ankle was propped up on several pillows. A woman with short grey hair sat in a chair near the window. She got up when she saw I was awake and moved to the side of the bed.
"Where am I? What happened? Where's jack?" I said in a voice that clearly stated it hasn't been used in a while. That last question slipped out unintentionally, I felt my ears being to burn.
"You're at a farm near Atlanta, you took a tumble down a hill and hit your head and Jack's fine. Just worried about you is all." She said in a kind southern voice.
"How did I get here?" I said, because that's all that really mattered.
"Daryl was out hunting and heard you falling; you wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him. You're friend caught up with him and then they got you here as soon as they could. You got a concussion from hitting you head and you ankles defiantly seen better days." She genuinely seemed to care about how I was doing. Great, just another person to run away from along with Jack, Daryl and God knows who else was here.
"I want to see them. Both of them." I said, I had to see hat Jack was okay and I was curious about what my savior looked like.
Jack came in first. He looked so ragged, I hoped my actions hadn't caused this drastic change in his demeanor, but I knew they had. He came in and sat next to the bed. His hand reached up and softly ran his fingers over the bandage that encircled my head. I didn't protest when his hand rested on my cheek. I saw tears gathering in his eyes and I knew he thought he caused this.
"It's not your fault." I whispered hoarsely, allowing myself to show emotions in front of another human being I placed my hand over his, pressing it into my face and tears of my one rolled down my face.
"I shouldn't have slept; I knew you'd try something." He said with a slight smile, was I really that predictable? "But I'm glad you're okay."
"Ditto." I said with a laugh. He laughed too. Then he said he had to go help some one named Rick so I let him go and waited patiently for Daryl to arrive.
My First impression of Daryl Dixon was that we were not going to get along. He wore a plaid shirt with the sleeves cut off and had a crossbow slung across his back. Sauntering in and sitting in the chair next to my bed he said, "How ya doing Tumbleweed?" in the same gruff voice I heard yelling through my clouded mind a few days ago.
Tumbleweed. He was judging me solely on my fall down the hill but he had no idea how well its suited me, never staying in one place and hard to get close to. That's me all right, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of pegging my personality so easily.
"It's Noel." I said grinding my teeth angrily. I glared at him from under my brow, there was something I didn't like about this guy.
"As in Christmas? Well I think I like tumbleweed more," He said leaning back in the chair, "I ain't heard anything 'thank yous' for saving your sorry ass."
"I was perfectly fine; I could've taken that walker out myself if it wasn't for you." I lied, of course I would've died but I didn't care if I died or not but I didn't want some stranger with a crossbow to know that I had a death wish.
He laughed at my failed attempt to lie. "If it wasn't for me ya would've been walker food and don't ya deny it. Even with out the walker ya wouldn't have survived thanks to that crack in yur skull."
"Oh will you just shut up," I glared at him some more, my gray eyes staring daggers into his blue ones; "Don't you know it's rude to harass a sick person."
"I got nothing better to do at the moment, where ya from little tumbleweed?" Great, he wants to know more about me, so much for getting him to leave.
"Alabama, or at least that's where I was born, didn't stay there for long." A wave of sadness washed over me as I thought of my childhood, growing up with my mother, living all over the place, meeting so many people. I bet all those people are gone now. I tried desperately to hide my emotions, but I could tell some of it came through but the way Daryl seemed to withdraw from the conversation. So he wasn't one for feelings either, maybe we had something in common after all.
He got up and walked to the other side of the bed, "Ya got yourself a fine weapon, Noel, good thing it wasn't with you when you fell, or you'd be in a whole lot worse shape." I just noticed that my katana was resting against the wall where he was standing. He reached for it and I got defensive.
"Don't touch it!" I yelled, that was one of the last thing my mother had bought me before the epidemic and I didn't need some backwoods hick messing with it.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and attempting to get up, but my vision blurred and I saw the floor rushing up to meet my face. The last thing I thought before I lost consciousness was that I, Noel Miller, was not a fan of Daryl Dixon.
I was allowed out of bed two days after the Daryl incident. I was supposed to stay in a tent with Jack for as long as we were staying at the farm, and from what I've been hearing that would be too much longer.
Rick introduced to everyone at the camp and learned that the gray haired woman's name was Carol, but no one really stood out to me as some one I would like to be around, but these people were giving me some where to rest for a while so I might as well be some what social.
I helped with chores for days. Very dismal work for someone used to moving around. Everyone else was going to town and killing walkers or searching the highway and killing walkers. Is it wrong for a teenage girl to want a little violence once in a while? A little excitement? I know what you're thinking the last time I tried for excitement I nearly got eaten, but what can I say? I'm a tumbleweed.
One morning I strapped my katana to my back and marched up to Rick. "I need to do something. I can't sit still any longer." I was staring him down, or rather up, seeing as how he was a good 6 inches taller than me.
"Well, we don't have anything planned today, but I guess you could ask Daryl to go with him hunting. That's the best I can do for you kid." He said giving me a kind smile and pointing me in the direction of Daryl's tent. That's one thing I couldn't stand about living here, being called "kid" constantly, everyone treating me like a child. I wasn't that young, but the only person younger than me here was Rick's son so that didn't help me win any arguments on the matter.
This is just perfect; the only way I can get out and stretch my legs is to go hunting with Daryl. I straighten my katana and swallow my anger as I trudge over to Daryl's tent.
He was about to leave when I approached him. A self confident smirk spread across his face, "Hey there little tumbleweed, what would ya like?" He said in a teasing voice.
If he was trying to get me to smile or laugh it wasn't working. I squared my shoulders and stated, "I'm going hunting with you." He looked at me skeptically and shrugged.
"If you can keep up yur welcome ta join me." Then he started toward the forest without a second glance at me. By the time I comprehended what he said he'd gotten several feet into the wilderness. My legs were definitely shorter than his but I was light on my feet and caught up easily, if he was surprised by my enthusiasm, he didn't show it.
"So, word around camp says you're some kind of hunting master. What's the deal with that?" I was attempting to make small talk, trying to find out more about the abrasive gentleman I was wandering through the woods with.
"Well, I gotta eat don't I?" He pegged a squirrel with an arrow and went to retrieve it while I gazed around the forest floor, looking for eatable plant-life. I deiced to drop the conversation because it wasn't going any where anyways.
We wandered and hunted for several hours before I hit the tree root. I swear those things were attracted to my converse. I fell on my face and my ankle flared with pain. Daryl heard the commotion and turned to see me sprawled in the dirt. He helped me up and asked if I was okay to walk.
"Of course I'm okay, how weak do you think I am?" I snarled as a pushed him away and took a step. I cried out in pain and proceeded to land in the dirt again. Way to make a point I thought to myself.
"Alright kid, you ain't walking and I'm done hunting. Lets go." He slung his crossbow over his back and leaned down to pick me up. I held up a hand to stop him, no way was I letting him carry me back to camp.
"You touch me and I'll cut off your hand." This seemed to rattle him a bit but he quickly regained focus and threw me over his shoulder. "I'm not kidding! As soon as you put me down your hand is gone!" I yelled punching his back and trying to wriggle free of his iron grip.
"Ya shouldn't be yelling like that, I spot walkers in here almost everyday." He said nonchalantly, I knew he was just trying to shut me up so I just fought and yelled some more. Then he abruptly stopped walking and I stopped hitting.
"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" I asked slightly panicked. I tried to look around but the crossbow was blocking my right and to my left was a very large oak tree with a hollow near the bottom. Unfortunately for me Daryl saw the hollow and proceeded to stuff me in it as gently as he could.
"I think I heard a walker, you just stay here and don't make a sound, okay?" He whispered. My eyes went wide with fear and I nodded my head. "Stay here." He repeated. I nodded again and he took off, leaving me in the safety of my hollow.
I listened for his returning foot steps and heard nothing. I was getting worried until I heard leaves rustling, breathing a sigh of relief I let my voice ring out though the woods "Come on Daryl, I can hear you, help me outta this hole already!" The foot stepped came faster now, but there was another sound, a low moaning that I had come to fear greatly in the past few months.
My heart rate quickened as I tried to reach my katana. But it was pinned against the tree and I couldn't get a grip on it. I tried to slow my breathing but it was no use, so I did the only thing I could think of, I screamed for help, I mean come on, the walker was coming anyways, it didn't really matter how much noise I made now.
"Daryl! Daryl! Help! DARYL!" My voice was getting hoarse and my head pounded from the effort but I wouldn't stop, I didn't want to die like this. The walker rounded the base of the tree and laid its eyes on me. With one last scream I saw the arrow go through its head. Daryl came around to where I was sitting and checked to see if I was hurt, he then retrieved his arrow and bent down so I could put my arms around his neck. This was the second time he saved me and no doubt the second time he's carried me back to camp.
As we neared the camp I could see people gathering around the edge of the woods, no doubt they heard me screaming. Daryl just gave me a look like let me handle this and I nodded.
I heard a lot of "what happened?" and "is she alright?" but I didn't really listen, I just wrapped my arms more tightly around Daryl's neck as he pushed past everyone, making his way to my tent. He laid me down in my sleeping bag, "You just let me handle this, don't let no one bother ya, alright?" he said in a low voice, I nodded, to drained to talk and dozed off.
I must've slept through the rest of the day because when I woke up the sun was rising on the horizon and Jack was sound asleep on the far side of the tent. I changed quiet so I wouldn't wake him and have an awkward moment on my hands. My ankle was tender, but nothing I couldn't handle so I got up and climbed through the opening in the tent.
The morning was sticky with Georgia heat; I walked over to our water supply and filled a cup. I sat at the picnic table and waved to Dale, who had been keeping watch atop his RV. I stared at the cup of water with distain, what I really needed was tea for my raw throat. My head ached as I shielded my eyes from the rising sun.
The camp was waking up around me, people getting up and going through their daily routines, but me? I just got up and sat at the base of a tree with my back to them. I wasn't in the mood for condolences and all I was doing was following Daryl's instructions.
No one came to bother me for awhile, I doubt anyone cared where I was anyways. I just sat and thought about how I could leave these people when they had given me so much. My eyes were so focused on the horizon that I didn't even hear Jack come up beside me. He touched my shoulder and I jumped. "Oh, hey Jack, whad'ya want?" I asked, not really interested, just trying to hurry along the conversation.
"I just wanted to know how you're doing, you know with living here. We haven't talked in a while." He was right; I hadn't said more than three words to him since I was allowed out of the house. I instantly felt guilty, he was always there for me and he barely knew me. Why did he have to be so nice? He made leaving seem like an impossible task.
"Oh, it's good, you know besides me almost getting eaten again." I was joking, but I was Jack's eyes cloud over and I knew he wasn't in the mood for joking. "Come on, I'm only kidding. Why do you have to be so serious about this? I'm fine."
I could tell I wasn't getting through to him; he got up and sat right in front of me. "Don't joke about it. When I heard you screaming, I… I wanted to go straight into the forest, but Rick stopped me, said you were with Daryl and you'd be fine. I didn't believe him though, every time I let you out of my sight something bad happens to you and I can't take that. I can't help but feel I'm to blame for everything." He meant it, I could tell from the look in his eyes. It was the same look my mother had given my before the gun shot. "Noel, say something please. Tell me you alright. Tell me you won't do something stupid again."
Here's something you need to know about me, I have never-never- had someone say something so intense to me, so packed full of emotions. I couldn't take the regular amount as is, so I just looked him in the eyes, blinked once, got up and walked away before my eyes filled with tears.
I found a relatively smooth spot in the vast expanse for land that spread out before Hershel's farm and just lay there surrounded by the tall grass and wild flowers. It was so beautiful, the blue sky and the slightly warm summer breeze, I forgot what it was like to see true beauty. I lay there for hours, just watching the sun move across the sky.
Around noon I got hunger but I didn't bother getting up, I just let my silent tears of angry and misery roll across my cheek bones and land in my eyes, slowly muffling the world around me. No one came looking, I guess who ever was keeping watch on the RV had seen me anyways, but it still hurt, not being looked for.
I started to get more annoyed when the sunset and still no one had come to check on me. Did they really hate me that much? Did they really not care what happened to me? I poked my head out of the grass to see that everyone had gone to sleep, Whatever, I thought bitterly; guess I'm sleeping in a field tonight.
By the position of the moon it was just past midnight when I woke up from yet another nightmare, this time it was me being torn apart and my mother watching, but I didn't have a gun. I felt every bite, saw every drop of blood and felt myself die. My throat was raw from screaming in my sleep; I had flattened out around a ten foot section of grass and had dirt caked under my nail from clawing at the ground.
Breathing hard I tried to get my bearings, I was about a mile or so from the farm and apparently no heard my distress because I saw no one coming to my aid. Lying down on my back I tried to slow down my rapid breathing; that's when I heard the distant shifting of grass blades and the faint moaning of the dead.
My heart rate quickened again, I searched the ground for a weapon and came up with a fist sized rock that had a sharp looking point on one end. I crept throw the grass as quietly as possible and found that walker shuffling around aimlessly, I snuck up behind it and drove the rock through its skull, covering myself in blood in the process.
"Ha, take that world; I'm not just a helpless little girl!" I yelled at the sky, I threw my arms out to show it my bloody glory. I smirked to myself until I heard more shuffling. My head whipped around to see at least a dozen walkers making their way towards camp. Shit.
Okay Noel, you got two choices here. One, run to camp and get help and show how extremely weak you are once again. Or two, sneak back to camp before Dale sees the walkers, grab your weapon and kick same undead ass. The choice was obvious, I gave the main camp a wide birth and started to sneak behind tents, making sure not to be seen or wake anyone up. Luckily I had left my katana outside the tent earlier; I slid it out of the sheath as quietly as possible and made for the field.
Here's something you need to know about me, I'll do anything to prove I'm not just a kid. If that means taking on twelve walkers single handed, then so be it. I crouched low in the tall grass waiting for the first walker to come with in the reach of my deadly blade.
The first one to get within killing range was middle-aged man, with a beer gut and a large piece of his forearm missing. He shuffled a few feet ahead of the rest of the pack in his knee high socks and sandals. He reminded me of my neighbor back in Alabama, always yelling at his T.V when I was trying to read. I shook the thought from my mind and lunged.
I brought my sword down on the mans head, feeling it smash through bone and slice through brain matter. He fell to the ground at my feet and the pulled my sword free. I had the other walkers attention now, they growls and moaned hungrily. "Oh this should fun." I said to myself, a vicious smile spreading across my face as I ran at the walkers.
It could've lasted anywhere from seconds to hours, but all I remember is blissful violence, running and stabbing and slicing and dodging; Blood and sweat accumulating on my skin, walkers after walker falling at my feet. It wasn't easy, I had several close calls, but I did it, all by myself. I went and drove my sword through all their brains, just to make sure and started toward camp.
The adrenaline of the fight was wearing out as the sun started to rise behind me, my breathing grew labored and my vision blurry. I stumbled and came crashing down in the dirt. The fall knocked the wind out of me and I just lay there, struggling for air, until I succumbed to the blackness edging its way into my mind.
I felt the warmth of the sun leave my skin, so I cracked open on eyes and saw that I was surrounded by people and my head was in Jacks lap. I opened the other eye and saw Rick, Shane, Dale and Glenn staring down at me and from the looks on their faces, they weren't impressed.
I sat up and looked around at them with a big smile on my face, raise my gore cover hand and waved at them, "Mornin' everyone! Have a good sleep? Mine was wonderful as you can see." God, I hadn't been that sarcastic since my last day at high school. I got the reaction I wanted as they all stared at me with disbelief.
"Noel," Rick said crouching down in front of me, "What happened you?"
"What happened to me? More like what happened to the walkers that I cut down last night! I saved all your asses by myself." I probably sounded crazy, maybe slightly psychotic, but I was pissed off for no apparent reason.
"You should've come for help, you could've got bit." Shane looked down at me disapprovingly; I really hated him, since the moment I saw him walking around camp I just couldn't stand the sound of his voice.
"I could have, but I didn't and I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me I have a little blood on my hands." I got up and started toward the farm house. I saw Daryl get up and make his way towards me so I quickened my pace. He jogged up beside me and the cut me off with his arm.
"Where the hell've ya been little tumbleweed? I went all through the forest lookin' for ya yesterday." So they were looking, my heart swelled and I instantly regretted what I had said to Rick.
"In the field, kicking some ass. Do you mind getting out of my way?" I glared up at him but he didn't move, "No? Okay then." I started to walk around him but he grabbed my arm a little to forcefully.
"You don't ever do that again. Ever. Yer to young to be out on yer own." His words were jerky and he stopped looking at me.
"You have no idea how much time I spent on my own. Now let go out me!" I pulled my arm free and sprinted up to the front steps of the farm house. After explaining the situation to a very worried looking Maggie, she led me to a small bathroom, showed me where the towels were and told me not to take longer then fifteen minutes. I nodded and locked the door when she left, being careful to avoid the mirror I undressed quickly and stepped into the pleasantly warm water.
I small sigh escaped my lips as I washed away the layers of blood and dirt that covered my skin, what I lovely feeling it was, being completely clean for the first time in months. I washed my hair quickly and turned off the water reluctantly.
I unlocked the door prematurely, which was a big mistake, because literally five second afterward somebody opened the door. I yelled and threw a towel around myself. I turned to see a very red faced Jack standing in the doorway.
"Jesus Jack, the hell are you doing?" I tried to sound angry, but I could feel my ears turning red. He looked me up and down, apparently unable to speak. "What's the matter? Jack? Hello? Seriously."
"I…uh, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to uh.." He clear his throat, his face growing more red by the second, "I just, ahem, wanted to see if you were alright." I looked at him with my mouth hanging open. I could be a mass murderer and he would still care about how I was feeling, I could curse at him for hours and he'd still console me when I was finished. He would care about me no matter what I did to him; it made me hate him and love him even more. And maybe that's why I secured my towel firmly around my chest, closed the distance between us and leaned in for my very first kiss.
It was nothing special, just a simple gesture showing him how much he meant to me without actually having to say anything. I pulled away slowly and look Jack's square in the face, our noses practically touching. His green eyes filled my filled of view and I saw the edges of them crinkle as he smiled.
"You, mister, need to get out here for a moment." I told him pushing him out the open door and locking it. I went to grab my clothes when I remembered I hadn't stopped to get anything clean. Oh this is just lovely, I thought. I could either put my filthy clothes or just stride through camp in nothing but a towel. I sighed and put my clothes back on, the feeling of cleanliness vanished as I pulled my jeans up over my thighs and let them rest at my hips. While slipping my t-shirt over my head I caught a glimpse off my protruding ribs in the small bathroom mirror. I know I hadn't eaten much since I got here but I didn't know I had loss so much weight because of it. Sighing deeply, I put on my socks and shoes and left the steamy warmth of the bathroom.
Nobody approached me as I walked towards my tent, but I could see them all glance in my direction when they thought I wasn't paying attention; Fine, let them think I'm a freak, it'll be just like high school, I thought as I entered my tent and sat down next to my pack. I had taken enough clothes with me to last two days along with the clothes I was wearing when I left my house. I pulled out a faded black tank top with the words "Aperture Science" on it. Seeing it filled me with nostalgic memories of playing Portal 2 with my brother, oh how I missed him, he had died of cancer a few months before the epidemic hit; in a way I guess he was lucky. I pushed the thoughts of him away and grab clean undergarments and jeans.
Once changed I comb through my hair with my fingers and braid it back while it's still wet and for a while I just sit there, glad of the concealment the thin tent provides. Taking a deep breath I step out into the bright noonday light and set off to find something to do. I ask everyone I see if there anything that can be done, but apparently nobody wants help from the psychotic teenager. I look around for Daryl, wanting desperately to apologize for what I said earlier, but he seems to have vanished into the woods. Consumed in my thoughts I end up walking face first into Glenn's shoulder. I stagger back a bit and rub my nose, "Man, I should really watch where I'm going." I say to myself
"Oh, don't be hard on yourself, its fine. Sorry if I hurt you!" Glenn says in a rush, I've never really talked to him before but he seems nice enough so I smile and tell him I'm fine. "Oh my god!" He exclaimed glancing down at my tank top, "You played portal?"
"Yea I did! I beat the second one at least ten times; I was big into gaming before all this happened." I blush a little, letting my nerdy side come out. After that we talked for about an hour about games and movies and comics. I almost cry three times, he reminds me so much of my brother its scary, but I get a hold of myself and continue talking. Then he leaves and I just wander the farm for the rest of the day.
When the sun starts to set and everyone gathers around the fire, I join in for the first time since I've been here, sitting with my head leaning on Jack's arm. It's nice, I think this is the happiest I've been since the world went to shit. We all talk and laugh and I wonder why I tried so desperately to distance myself from these people.
When the fire dies down, one by one everyone goes their separate ways, I pull Jack up by his hand and he doesn't let mine go until we reach our tent. I lie down and turn to him, looking him straight in his pine green eyes I asked him something, I asked him to promise to never leave me, because I didn't think I could survive long without him.
He shifted over until he was right beside me, his arms wrapped around me and he whispered that he would sooner die than let me out of his sight again. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep with a smile on my face.