Chapter 2

Rick and Isabeau meet Glen and Merle and two others in Atlanta and when they handcuff Merle to the pipe, Isabeau argues with them and then stays behind and gets the handcuff off him and they head out right behind Rick and co. Merle and Isabeau show up at the quarry just behind Rick, etc. When Isabeau sees Shane and Laurie and Carl, she pulls Rick to the side and whispers to him that Shane is definitely the man she argued with in the hospital. Shane stares at her, knowing he's seen her but can't place where. Rick advises Isabeau to not say anything to Shane or anyone else. He wants to evaluate what the situation is. Isabeau agrees but warns Rick not to trust Shane.

Isabeau goes down to the water in the quarry and strips off her scrubs and goes into the water, swimming out to the deepest part. The other women follow her and start to clean themselves up and clean some of their clothing. Rick and the men keep watch on the upper ledge of the quarry. Merle takes Daryl to the side and nods toward Isabeau out in the water. "That gal there knows her shit, baby brother," he whispers. "If she hadn't helped me out, I'd probably be dead." Daryl nods and looks out in the water thoughtfully. "Ya know how I feel about most folks, specially women-but she's one tough little cookie. She's got my respect-for now anyway." He clapped Daryl on the shoulder and headed down toward the water. Daryl watched his brother in surprise-that girl had definitely made an impression on his brother.

Isabeau stayed in the water quite a while, turning somersaults and splashing around playfully. When she swam back toward shore, she stepped out and sat on a rock to dry off. She wore just a bra and girl boxer briefs, red. She seemed completely unaware or unconcerned about the glares from the other women and the gawping by the men. She was curvy, with short shapely legs. She stood about 5'2-shorter than everyone else in the group with the exception of Carl and Sophia.

Merle walked over to her, a smirk on his face. "Well, looks like you've got an audience now," he rasped. Isabeau looked over at him, her eyebrow raised and shrugged.

"I have more on now than I do when I'm in my bathing suit," she said, "and besides that, I don't think it really matters anymore what we do or don't wear. If we're going to be getting walker guts and blood all over us daily, there's no room for worrying about whether or not we're dressed properly. I've never been one for false modesty anyway." She shrugged and ran her fingers through her wet hair, trying to detangle it.

"You are definitely something else, princess," Merle said approvingly. Isabeau frowned and shook her head at him.

"Oh, no-I'm the farthest thing from a princess you will find," she told him. "I grew up with no mom and four older brothers on a farm in upper Michigan. My brothers made sure I could take care of myself, I didn't get any pampering from any of them. Which I guess in the long run makes me able to take care of myself now." She continued to run her fingers through her hair, unconcerned with Merle staring at her.

"Can you shoot?" he asked, staring at her thoughtfully.

She snorted in derision. "Of course. I went hunting and trapping with my brothers and they made sure I knew my stuff. They also showed me how to fight-and they weren't careful about it either. I had my ribs broken and my eyes blacked a couple of times." She shrugged as if to indicate this was all no big deal, nothing out of the ordinary.

Merle nodded again, and lit a cigarette. "Good to know. More people that can take care of themselves, the better off we all are. Most of these folks in this group have no clue." He shook his head in disgust. Just then Daryl walked up slowly, uncertain that he should interrupt. He glanced quickly, shyly at Isabeau and blushed a deep red at her lack of covering. Isabeau in turn gave him a long, measuring look. She associated Merle and Daryl with men that she had met back in Michigan-the militia groups who had lived off the land and occasionally came to her father's clinic when they couldn't take care of a wound themselves –her father also gave them medical supplies knowing that some of their people wouldn't come to the clinic no matter how bad off they were. Her father had taught her not to be afraid of these men, and sometimes women, who came into the clinic. He explained they were just living a different way from her and they should be shown respect. She had also treated folks like Merle and Daryl at the hospital in Atlanta and noted how the staff and physicians had treated them –like trash, undeserving of any respect or concern. It had infuriated her-she felt that was one of the reasons Rick etc had handcuffed Merle to the pipe on the roof-they regarded him as beneath them and not worth the trouble. Isabeau felt that the world was going to be awful enough without dragging along all the old prejudices and fears along with them. Privately she thought Merle and Daryl were better equipped than most people were for this type of world. And she intended on watching them and learning from them so she would be able to survive.

"Hey," she said softly to Daryl. She had picked up already that he was uncomfortable around these people and that he seemed more unsure of himself than his brother Merle. He looked quite a bit younger than Merle-so he was probably used to following Merle around and following Merle's lead.

Daryl looked at her uncertainly. He noted she was still trying to comb out the tangles in her long auburn curls, and that her lack of clothing seemed to be of no concern to her. She seemed to be perfectly relaxed, like this was just another day at the beach. He nodded at her, unable to tear his eyes away from her and embarrassed as hell at his staring. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, not that he'd seen all that many. And certainly not in these circumstances.

"You're Merle's brother, right?" she asked, trying to make him comfortable with her. Merle glanced at his brother and smirked. His brother looked like a deer in the headlights. He didn't blame Daryl though, Isabeau was a beautiful woman-definitely far above the class they were used to associating with.

Daryl nodded again and cleared his throat to say something, but Merle cut him off. Merle swung his arm around Daryl's shoulders and said teasingly, "Yep, this here's my baby brother. Been following me around like a puppy dog these last few years, keeping me out of trouble most of the time. " Daryl tried to pull away, embarrassed, but Merle only hugged him tighter. "He's a good guy, even if he is my baby brother." Merle laughed and gave Daryl a little pat on the arm. "I'm gonna head back up and see what the menfolks are running their mouths about," he said as he turned to walk away. He hoped Daryl would find his tongue and be able to say something to Isabeau. A girl like that would have been forever out of their reach but now that the world had gone to shit, everyone had a fair chance at anything. There were no rules anymore, he just hoped Daryl would realize that and take advantage of it.

Daryl turned to follow Merle, but Isabeau stopped him, "Hey, don't run off yet." He turned back to her, frowning. She smiled openly at him and he found himself wondering why she was fucking with him. He didn't like anyone teasing him or making fun of him.

"What?" he growled back at her. She watched him carefully. She didn't want to make him mad, she would have to be careful how she spoke to him so he would know she was not a threat to him.

"Nothing. Didn't mean to offend. Just wanted to talk to someone." She smiled again at him. He noted her eyes were a beautiful deep green, with auburn lashes and eyebrows and little freckles were sprinkled over her nose and cheeks. He felt himself turning a deeper red, knowing she was aware he was staring. In the past if he had been caught staring at some girl he would get a look of disgust or revulsion thrown his way or get threatened if he didn't go away. But this girl was still smiling, being friendly. It was confusing. He looked down at his boots and scuffed one of them in the rocks. "Can you swim?" she asked. He looked up at her quickly.

"Mmmm, yeah. Nothing fancy, just keeping my head up outta the water," he mumbled.

"Well, do you want to get in the water with me? I just want to get back in real quick," she explained.

Daryl thought he would choke at this. She was asking him to swim with her? He shook his head quickly –that would involve him taking his shirt off and he didn't do that in front of anyone. "Um, no. I mean thanks, but I'll pass." He shrugged and headed quickly back toward Merle before she could say another word to him. She watched him leave, biting her lip in thought. He was a good looking man, even under all the dirt and grime they all had on them. She would have to be careful in getting him to trust her-but she would work on it. What else did she have to occupy her now other than staying alive from one day to the next?

Isabeau slid off the rock and rifled in her backpack for a change of clothes. She pulled on a green tank top and some cargo shorts, and pulled her tennis shoes back on. She stuffed her filthy scrubs in a wedge in the rocks. She wasn't going to bother cleaning them-she didn't ever want to look at them again. She grabbed her bag and headed up to the ledge to see what the men were discussing. Most of the women were still at the water's edge splashing the water gratefully onto them and filling water bottles and canteens. They watched Isabeau in silence.

On the ledge, Isabeau headed over to where Rick and Shane and the others were standing around talking. She stood quietly, absorbing what they were discussing. Some thought the group should stay here in the quarry, others thought they should head to someplace safer. Rick thought they should go to the CDC and see if they could get any info from there. He spied Isabeau on the edge of the group and waved her over.

"Isabeau was my doctor in the hospital, a member of my surgical team," he began. Shane started and looked more closely at Isabeau. Isabeau stared back at him, a measuring look on her face. This wasn't lost on Merle, and he nudged Daryl to look.

"Shortstack there don't seem to like Shane," he whispered. Daryl nodded and turned his gaze toward them. "We need to keep an eye on Shane, baby brother. I've already had a bad feeling about him, and seeing her look at him like that just makes me not like him even more." Daryl nodded in agreement.

Rick turned to Isabeau. "What do you think about heading toward the CDC?" he began.

Shane interrupted belligerently. "Why are you asking her? Just because she was your doctor doesn't mean she'd know anything about the CDC." He huffed out. Isabeau just stared at him until he dropped his eyes and looked away. Merle whistled softly and Daryl looked at him.

"She backed him down," Merle whispered softly. Daryl turned back to watch Shane again.

"Shane, she's a doctor. Of course she'd know something about what goes on in the CDC," snorted Dale in derision. The others nodded in agreement.

"I think we should just go to Ft. Benning and get supplies if they haven't been cleaned out," Shane continued stubbornly, his gaze still avoiding Isabeau's. The others looked at him questioningly.

"Why are you so determined to go to Ft. Benning? You know somebody there," Merle stepped forward and glanced at Shane and Rick and then Isabeau. "We should know what this shit is that's causing this mess. A doctor would be the best person to listen to, and she'll understand what anyone at that place says." He glanced around the group to see how they'd respond. The others nodded in agreement.

"It's decided then," Rick began. "We'll stay here a few days to rest up and then we'll head toward the CDC and hopefully we'll find something out." He leaned over and whispered in Isabeau's ear. "Is that okay with you?" She nodded and Rick patted her arm. "I guess we need to start up a fire and set up watch schedules," he said to the group at large. The women straggled up at this time and Rick went to Laurie and Carl and wrapped his arms around them. Isabeau watched Shane glare in Rick's direction, then she looked over and saw Merle watching her. He nodded toward Shane and winked at her, then turned to head back over to Daryl where they started to gather wood for a fire. Isabeau sighed. At least she knew now that someone besides her was cautious of Shane.