It's not my favorite chapter, but it had to be done. More action to come.
Mary had to trust them blindly on that one. If her brothers were still here, they would never allowed her to do what she was about to do. She reached to her pocket and she handed her truck keys to Daryl.
What if they don't come back? I won't have a car anymore, but I can't let them go by foot, it's was too dangerous and it would take them forever.
Daryl felt her hesitation:
«If ya want to come with us, ya won't have to worry about never seeing yer truck again» It was like he had just read in her mind.
«Yeah... I could, but what if the group doesn't want me there?» she answered.
«They will be happy to see you!» Maggie paused «And, if you meet them all, it's gonna be easier to decide if you want us here with you...»
Mary nodded, Maggie was right.
If Maggie feels safe with them, then maybe I will too.
Mary handed her keys to Daryl again:
«Wanna drive? You know the way.»
They packed some stuff in the trunk, food, guns, just in case. Mary brought a bag with some clothes in it and her harness, she would never leave without it. Daryl was looking at her while she was packing. It was not a weird look, she thought, he was just thinking.
«Maybe we should bring harnesses for everyone, and show them what you can do with this walker trap when we come back?»
«That's if they want to come» She retorted.
«They will, I know Rick. Maybe Hershel will have a hard time to leave his farm, but he will do what is best for his daughters ».
«And, if I want them to come...» she said looking at him waiting for his reaction.
«You will.»
«Well, you sound pretty confident about that»
He changed the subject:
«Do you have enough harnesses for 15?»
«Yes, we have more than 50 of them here.»
Daryl was driving. Mary was beside him in the passenger seat, while Maggie was in the backseat. When Daryl started the truck, everyone jumped out of their pants at the loud music coming from the radio.
...Welcome my son, to where the work is never done...
Mary forgot to turn down the volume the day before, her Bad Religion CD was still on full volume. She almost tore off the button and it was silence again.
«Sorry...» she said, making an awkward face.
Two walkers heard the music and were coming out of the woods.
«Drive by them» she told Daryl.
She scrolled her window down and took the machete that was hidden under her seat, without any hesitation she decapitated both of them. Daryl was happy they had met her, she was tough and great with weapons, she was smart and she wanted to act and do something about all this crap. She was different from the other girls from the group, she was not looking for shelter, she was a fighter. At that thought, he saw her back in the kitchen, shaking with anger and fear at his stupid comment, she was a strong one, but something had happened to her. Maybe the loss of her brothers had left a crack in her shell.
The drive was pretty much complete silence. Maggie was napping on the backseat. After a couple of minutes, they were right where she found them the day before. It was a long empty road in front of them.
«You guys did this too?» Daryl asked.
«The cars? Yes. We had to have a safe road to attract them to us without getting caught»
«Most of been hard ta push all those cars out of tha way» There was at least 40 cars on the sides of the road.
«It was, but we promised our dad we would fight before he died»
Daryl was looking at her at the corner of his eyes, still looking at the road in front of him. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her , but he didn't allow himself to ask, he wasn't an open book himself so he didn't want to give her a chance to question him back. But Mary talked:
«My dad was old, and sick, he died in his bed a few months ago. Our plan was almost finished when he past, so he made us promise to fight. He was not the kind of man to choose to only survive. He wanted us to fight back and kill them all. That's when we decided to do the car trick, but we had to be prepared»
Daryl was listening to her while driving, her voice was so soft he felt calm for the first time since the shit hit the fan. Maggie was sleeping profoundly.
«Max was so angry after our father's death, he was the one who shot him when he turned, but his anger kept him going, he...»
Daryl interrupted her, with a surprised almost shocked «What?»
«What, what?»
«Ya said yer dad was sick?»
«Yeah, but when he turned, Max...»
He did it again «He was bit then.»
«No» she paused.
Oh God, they don't know.
Daryl was looking at her with intense eyes, he was driving much slower now.
«We all turn Daryl, didn't you know? No matter how we die, we turn.»
«Fucking Shit!» He hit the wheel with both hands.
Maggie jumped as she woke up, looking scared.
Mary continued:
«That's probably why we were not able to contain it and why we got so behind the situation, even the army. How many person dies every minute of every day in this world?»
«What are you talking about?» Maggie asked, looking at Daryl angry eyes in the rear mirror.
«Were all gonna fucking turn, as soon as we fucking die!Fuck!»
Mary explained to them what happened to her dad after his death, and that she had seen the same phenomenon with her neighbor who was shot accidentally.
«They both die and turned, no bite.»
Silence again, Daryl and Maggie were trying o let this new information sink in. Daryl was going at a more normal speed again.
«Hey Daryl, on your right» said Maggie.
Mary could see the barn getting closer, she was nervous. What kind of people was she about to meet? She had learnt the hard way that the living in this world were way more dangerous than the dead. When they turned left on the little dirt road that led to the farm, she saw a lot of movement. As they were getting closer to the group, she saw two men and one blond women pointing guns at them. When they recognized Daryl at the wheel, they all dropped their weapons and run to them. Maggie jumped out of the truck and hugged a young Asian man, 4 others came around her and hugged her all together.
Her parents and her siblings. Mary felt a hint of jealousy.
Daryl was on the other side of the truck, the rest of the group around him, asking him a ton of questions. Mary stayed in the car, wishing that she could just disappear in thin air right now. It had been a long time since she last seen so many friendly looking people, yet she felt desperately alone.
«Rick, you have to meet Mary!» Maggie opened her door and pulled her out.
Usually Mary was not a shy girl, she was confident and sure of herself, but she felt very vulnerable at this moment with all the eyes watching her.
«Hi Mary, my name is Rick»
«Hi.» she responded softly like they would kill her if she talked normally.
«Daryl told me you saved them from death yesterday, we owe you much now.»
Rick seemed like a nice guy, definitely a leader. Mary felt more comfortable now that he was talking to her so kindly.
«Come over here» She followed him, now being the center of attention.
«This is my wife Lori and our son Carl»
Wow! This women is pregnant, poor her.
«Shane, Andrea, T-Dog, Dale, Carol and Glenn were part of our original group. This is Hershel, it's his farm, he's wife Patricia and his kids, Beth, Jimmy and well you know Maggie. They welcomed us here a few weeks ago.»
Mary smiled to the group. Shane stepped up closer to her and asked:
«Are you alone? Where is your camp?»
Maggie answered for her before she could open her mouth: «Relax Shane, she's alone,ok. She lives in a house about 30 minutes from here.»
Shane looked skeptical and went on: «How did you survive alone?»
«I was with my 2 twin brothers, but they were both killed yesterday, that's how» she felt her ears burn.
Shane was about to ask more questions but Rick stopped him: «Ok enough. We have to eat and get prepared for the next run.»
First run with the group for Mary to come. Please, if you read, leave a little review, it's keeping me motivated :)