Nearly an hour later we walked out of the factory – no nursing home – and headed home. Glenn was okay, just as roughed up as Daryl, but fine for the most part. The strange turn of events of finding out the gang was actually left behind nurses caring for abandoned seniors had my head spinning. Navigating this new world seemed to get more complicated by the day.
I was walking next to Glenn, loaded up with my pack and guns, following behind Rick and T-Dog. Daryl had resumed what is apparently his "spot" at the back of the group.
"Admit it, Sheriff," Glenn began as we marched along back towards the box truck, "You just came back for the hat."
Rick flashed a grin back at us. "Don't tell anybody."
"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl grumbled from the back. This still? We're actually still upset about this?
"I may be a glass half full kind of girl," I started, "but, last I checked we're headed back with about 15 more guns than we left with."
"All so some spics can keep a bunch of old farts going just so they can die later. How long you think they got anyway?" Daryl continued rambling to himself. My eyes rolled so hard into my head I worried for a second they were stuck.
"Oh my god." I heard Glenn next to me. I looked around us. The truck, where the hell was the truck?
"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl blurted out, pushing past us all and circling the tire tracks where the truck had been parked.
"Merle." Rick said with certainty.
Daryl looked uneasy, almost apologetic. "He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." I looked in the face of each party member as we moved around the tire tacks leading away from the parking spot. The nearest usable vehicle was all the way back near the factory, and that's if we could even hotwire it. A big if. Though apparently Glenn had skills in that department.
"We got about a three hour walk back." Rick stated. My daypack and the two rifles suddenly felt heavy. The sun was starting to kiss the horizon. It would be dark by the time we made it back. Wasn't a fan of the dark before corpses were walking around in it, definitely wasn't a fan after.
The first hour went relatively quickly. Glenn was like a chipper little puppy, talking with Rick about the different guns he grabbed, his massive revolver (a Python I've been informed), if he could get a couple shooting lessons. T-Dog lead us with the bag of weapons Rick picked out to bring back. I brought up the rear with Daryl.
My stomach gave an audible rumble. I reached around my back and attempted to swing my daypack to my front so I could dig out a granola bar. The only thing I succeed in doing was getting my arm strung up in the crossed rifle slings. "Mother fuh—" I groused under my breath. I felt hands lift up the heavy assault rifle and pull the strap over my head. I continued to struggle for a moment to free my arm before finally getting out. My pack swung to my front. I looked up and saw Daryl holding the rifle over my head looking amused.
"Thanks." I mumbled. I dug around in my pack and produced two granola bars. "Hungry?" I asked him.
"Hell yeah." He quipped and snatched the second bar from me. I took a moment and pulled out my canteen as well, unscrewing the cap and taking a long drag from it.
"Water?" I offered him the canteen too. He nodded through a mouthful of snack bar and grabbed the canteen.
"You got snacks back there Jen?" Glenn said hopefully, looking back at the two of us. I reached in my pack smiling and pulled out three more granola bars. Tossing him one I called to Rick and T-Dog, holding up the bars. They both smiled and caught them.
By hour two, T-Dog and Rick had traded off the bag of guns. Glenn and I led the crowd.
"Do you think everyone is okay back at camp?" Glenn asked quietly. The sun had now set and the dim twilight barely illuminated him next to me. "You don't think Merle went on a rampage or anything right?"'
"It's probably fine. He's probably just back there hassling Andrea about seeing her bra on the clothes line or something."
"Remember how mad she got that time he grabbed Amy's ass?" Glenn said, looking back subtly at Daryl. "What if they kill him when he gets back, he's never been left alone at camp without Daryl."
"No one's killing anyone, Glenn." I said, exasperated. "It's fine. Whatever is happening back at camp is fine."
By hour three we were all quiet. The night had pressed in on us, the stars finally making an appearance. I kept my hands on the grip of the assault rifle, my eyes sweeping the road ahead of us. Every noise had me on edge. My eyes burned with fatigue, my hiking boots started to scuff the ground. I had finished my water a mile back and the dusty road was starting to coat my lips.
Rick had taken off the top of his uniform and was down to his undershirt. Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog and I walked in a line next to him, trying to keep alert.
"Shouldn't be far now." Rick said softly.
"The turn for the quarry road should be up ahead." Daryl supplied, gesturing with his hand holding the crossbow. "There's a route 14 sign about – " Crack! Crack! Crack!
Distant gunshots. Immediately we shot into a sprint in the direction of the sound. No could say a word as our breaths puffed out with each pounding step. The rifles and my pack bounced on my back as my arms pumped. My heart bounded in my throat. The closer we got the louder and more frequent the shots were, screams started to permeate the cracks.
We raced down the quarry road, stumbling down the hill into camp. I whipped the handgun out of my waistband and brought it up into my line of vision, still running. As we burst into camp it was pandemonium. Corpses everywhere. Momma. Where's Momma? Tents are trampled. Dale is standing in the center spitting out rounds with his rifle.
I fired the rifle at the nearest corpse reaching for me. The recoil knocked my shoulder back and forced me back a step. Glenn was to my right blasting away at a nasty rotten bastard reaching out for us. Don't panic. Breath. Don't panic. Act. Don't react. Don't panic. Find Momma.
"Momma!" I called out. "Momma!" I swiveled, shooting three rounds into something awkward stumbling towards me. My shoulder feeling bruised from the rifle stock. The corpse jerked with each bullet. The third round finally makes purchase in its skull. There was the twang of Daryl's crossbow behind me. Dale's rifle cracked to my left. The blast of Rick's Python echoed further back.
Screams. Sobbing. Cries for help. Shane stood bashing in skulls with a baseball bat. I didn't see Carol or Sophia. Or Momma.
"Momma!" I called one more time. Frantically I darted around camp, swapping the huge rifle for the .22 and firing anytime a corpse got within 10 feet of me. Some I hit the first try, others took me a couple shots to put down.
Finally the camp fell quiet, the last corpse put down by Shane's bat. I saw Carl and Lori engulfing Rick.
There was someone on the ground in front of the RV door, still with death.
"I don't know what to do!" Andrea cried from her position next to the body. "AMY!" Andrea yelled. She collapsed over her sister, body heaving from tears.
I spotted a head of long grey hair at the back of the RV. "Momma!" I called to her, running and gripping her fiercely in a tight hug.
"I'm ok." Momma said. "It's ok, I'm ok." I clung to her. Her rheumatic fingers twisted into my shirt before she stepped back and looked at me with concern. She noted the large rifle hanging across my body. I think she's realized our trip to the city didn't quite go as planned.
We both turned to face Amy and Andrea. She kept her arm wrapped around my shoulder. I leaned into her and took stock of the carnage. Bodies littered the campground. In the dark it was hard to decipher what's a corpse and what's a survivor. The knot in my chest tightened uncomfortably. My body ached to lie down, my eyes felt like they had lead weights attached to the lids. The adrenaline rush from the melee kept me upright, despite the shake in my knees. There would be no sleep tonight.
I dig.
I've always liked hard work. The rhythm of turning soil, the swing of the shovel, pitching of the dirt. Nothing else needing focusing on right now other than the hole I was in.
Glenn and Momma were circling around to help identify the bodies. Our own were being buried, the others….well they were being burned. Daryl and Shane were walking among the prone bodies with pickaxes, giving the final blow to those still moving. Lori and Carl were sitting with Carol and Sophia by the RV. Carol's husband hadn't survived the night. According to Momma it wasn't much of a loss.
Everyone else was hovering around Andrea. She still kneeled over Amy's body, silent for the past several hours. As the sun rose Rick, Lori, and Dale had joined her while the rest milled about working or pretending to clean up camp.
I dig.
A gentle hand on my shoulder had me lifting my head to see Momma.
"Have some water, baby." She said, holding out my canteen. I wiped my head on my sleeve and grabbed the canteen while thanking her. I took a swig of warm freshly boiled water and grimaced. It wasn't no sweet tea, that's for sure.
"How many more holes we need?" I leaned on my shovel. Jim, our resident mechanic, was in his own hole shoveling next to me.
"Yours is the last." I nodded and handed her back the canteen. Not sure I had it in me to dig another one. Blisters on the corners of my thumbs bled and burned. My shoulders ached with repeatedly tossing loads of dirt. My left shoulder twitched with the memory of the abuse of the assault rifle. Momma smiled at me wearily before heading over to Jim and offering him water as well.
I dig.
Crack. A single shot sets me off. I threw myself out of my hole and looked around. In the distance down by the RV something's happened with Andrea. No one else seemed to rush into action. I take a few deep breaths and willed my heart to slow back down. Everything was ok.
I noticed Jim is no longer digging. He and Jaqui were starting to pull together corpses into a burn pile.
"Need a hand?" I called, quietly walking their way. Jaqui smiled at me. I hadn't spent a lot of time with her, but she was often down by the quarry pond with Andrea and Amy helping with the camp housekeeping. Nice enough I guess.
"Can you grab the feet?" Jim asked.
"Sure." I reached for the putrid shoes of whomever this poor chump used to be.
"Careful Jim," Jaqui warned, "You got blood on your shirt."
Jim and I set down the body. "Must be from moving the last one." Jim said, looking down his front. My eyebrow quirked up.
"Must have been a pretty fresh corpse for it to be that red." I said. Jaqui moved up next to me.
"Were – were you bit Jim?" Jaqui asked hesitantly. I took a step back and turned to look for Momma.
"No, no I just scratched myself on something during the attack." Jim tried to reassure us. I turned back to him.
"Momma can look at it, you know she was a nurse? Pretty good one at that." I told him while moving around in search of her.
"No really, it's nothing." Jim said.
"Prove it." Jaqui requested.
"Don't, it's fine." Jim pleaded.
"Hey Momma!" I called out smiling, seeing her with Dale and Andrea. "Hey, Momma! Can you come here fo—"
"Jim's bit!" Jaqui cried. I spun back towards her and Jim, watching her drop his bloody shirt. Shit.
Pounding feet behind me announced the arrival of the entire group.
"Let me look Jim." Momma softly called, walking towards him. Jim backed up, hands raised, shaking his head forlornly.
"I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay." He murmured.
"Show it to us! Show us!" Daryl cried behind me.
"Just let me check you out Jim." Momma continued. "It'll be fine."
"Grab him." Daryl ordered. In a flash Jim bent down and picked up a shovel lying by his feet.
From nowhere T-Dog appeared behind Jim and grabbed him roughly. "Hey, easy guys!" I shouted. Daryl barged up and yanked up his shirt, Momma moved to stop him but backed down at the look on Daryl's face. I held my breath; the entire group seemed to stop breathing. A large nasty weeping bite wound stood out on Jim's belly. Time stopped. Jim collapsed to his knees. Momma squatted next to him, a hand on his shoulder as the other pressed a strip of fabric to the wound. She whispered something to him but I couldn't make it out.
The other camp residents gathered in a bunch behind me and I moved to join them.
"Jenny, can you please get us your canteen?" Momma requested. I moved to pick up my abandoned canteen by a grave. When I brought it back over to them I heard Daryl holler something and start stomping around with his pickaxe. I turned away and helped Momma get Jim up and moving. He finished the canteen and together we headed towards the shade of the RV awning.
"He can have the bed in the back, Marie." Dale called out from the knot of people. Momma waved her hand above her head in acknowledgement and together we helped Jim up the RV steps. He leaned heavily on us.
"Stay back, Momma," I said. "I'll get him settled." She was a tough one, but at 70 wasn't in a state to be hefting full grown men around. I let Jim down on the bed and stepped back, letting Momma move forward. Somehow she had already got a bowl of water and some cleanish towels.
"Jenny, baby, can you please find more towels?"
"Sure, Momma." I stepped out of the RV just as Rick approached the door.
"He in there?" The folks behind him look unsettled. Rick was on edge. "Marie in there with him?" My eyes swept the camp and landed back on Rick's face.
"Yeah. You want me to send her out?"
"Probably best if she tends to him for now." Rick said. He looks back worriedly at the group then meets my eyes. "Dale said she's a nurse?"
"Retired school nurse." I responded with a tight smile. "40 years at Hemby Bridge elementary."
"We're lucky to have her." He nodded and stepped back, heading for his wife and son, picking up a shovel on the way.
Around me work resumed on cleaning up the camp. Daryl and Glenn drove around collecting the rest of the corpses. Dale was by Andrea, trying to help her wrap Amy's body in a sheet. Carol and Lori occupied the kids while the remainders put tents and camping equipment upset by the herd back right.
I grabbed pillowcases and socks off the clothesline and brought them back to Momma and Jim.
"Good work, Jenny." Momma smiled at me. "Can you fold up the socks into pads?" She started ripping the pillowcases into strips. She took a few and soaked them in the water in the bowl then gently dabbed at Jim's wound.
"You don't have to do this, ma'am," Jim groaned out.
"Oh shush." Momma continued to dab at the wound. It's nasty looking. Deep bruises around clear-cut teeth marks, weeping oozy blood. "I'm a nurse, didn't you know?" She smiled at Jim.
"School nurse, said Dale." Jim responded, flinching as Momma wipes away dirt.
"That's right!" Momma exclaimed. She waved a hand at me. "You done with those socks yet Jenny?" I tossed one her way from my spot at the little kitchenette table.
"Sorry you're dealing with this." Jim looked out the window.
"I'd pick this over a 10 year old vomiting up French bread pizza on my lap. Believe you me." She smiled sweetly as she presses a pad of cloth to the wound and had him sit up further as she uses a strip of pillowcase to keep it there. He gasped as she cinched the knot tight. "Now, you just lay back and let me enjoy having someone to fuss over." She patted his shoulder and flipped the blanket over his legs. Momma then stood up and motioned for me to follow her outside. "Stay by the door Jenny," She watched everyone moving around camp. She's wary and I don't blame her. "I'm gonna rustle him up some more water and a little food.
"I'm on it." I sat myself on the stairs into the RV and watched her move off. About a half hour later Momma came back with Jaqui in tow and an armful of supplies for Jim.
"They're gonna start burying folks in a bit." Jaqui said, looking between Momma and me. "I'll sit with Jim. You two go be there."
"Thank you, Jaqui." Momma replied. "Be right out Jenny." I moved off the steps and waited under the awning for her and Jaqui to put everything down inside.
Once she came back out we marched up the hill to the gravesites. Everyone was gathered and milling about. Rick and Dale eventually got organized and started directing people to lower bodies into holes. The entire process was relatively quick. I grabbed a shovel and stepped up once the bodies started going in and began moving dirt. The work went fast, but when I moved to start covering Amy, I looked up and realize it's just Andrea, Dale, and I left.
Silently Andrea took the shovel from my hands and started to cover her sister. Dale and I stood by her side, not a word shared between us.
Andrea digs.
A/N Chapter 3! Woohoo! Daryl and Jenny interacted for like a whole second! Promise there will be more Daryl/Jenny interaction next chapter. Thank you to Croxs101 for the review and those of you that added it to your follow/favorites list. Remember, if you don't review, I don't know what's working or not working for y'all or what you want more/less of. Happy Saturday!
