Woo chapter four already! This is when we get to see interaction between Savannah and everyone. You're going to see a bit of a tug-a-war happening in this chapter and it'll grow worse as chapters continue. Savannah is like neutral ground. On one side, you have the Dixons. These are guys she's grown up near, they are the last people she has that reminds her of home, they are from home. She's the last person they know other than each other from their town, and literally their neighbor. But on the other side, you've got this new group of people. Helping each other out, surviving together. They are seeing her as a butterfly amongst bees (Like that? I do. Lol) , not fully understanding why she's with them when she has the choice to be near others now. The next chapter is going to be one of my favorites so far. I can't wait for you guys to see it because it's going to actually show something that I don't think anyone truly is going to suspect ;). Remember to review and maybe I'll get it out there =D.
Also, Timeline wise, I'm not going to be doing day by day. Accord to the actually walking dead wiki, there is like a month span between them setting up the quarry camp and the beginning of the show. The next chapter is going to be a few days after Day Eight and then it'll either be a bit farther in or we'll go near the beginning of the series. =)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to The walking Dead. Seriously, nada. I'm just a fan, sharing my Daryl fantasy with other Daryl fans. Who, let's be honest, is one of the strongest characters in the series. Physically, mentally and emotionally in my opinion ;).
Day Seven-Quarry Camp
The night had passed with surprising ease. No one really had the emotional or physical energy to do anything but return to their cars and sleep. Merle, once again, sprawled out on the front seat with Savannah and Daryl in the bed of the truck. Shane, his wife and son were all spread out in their own car. Shane lying partially back in his front seat with his wife and son curled up in the back. She couldn't see into the other's cars and soon the others piled into the RV. All doors were shut and locked. Daryl's crossbow in his lap as they all slept, Savannah curled up to rest her head on his knee in the midst of the night as they slept.
The silence almost eerie as it fell over the top of the Quarry. The only sounds that touched their ears were animals. The smell of the nearby lake touching their noses. No sound of screaming children or arguing adults. No sounds of honking horns or doors slamming. Just nature. And if it could only continue to be this silent, peaceful. It would be a dream after the past few days.
But instead, the sun quickly rose over the horizon, thanks to the summer, and it quickly heated up inside the cars. The various car passengers all opened their doors, yawning and stretching their stiff muscles. The only two still asleep were in the bed of the truck but Merle quickly fixed that by slamming his hand down on the horn. Savannah jerked up, yelping as she scrapped her arm along the bike. Daryl jumped, wincing as his neck popped back into position. "What the fuck!" He yelled, his face reddening with anger as he turned around, almost kneeing Savannah in the head as he turned to face his brother. " The fuck ya doin' man?" He growled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Aye! Don't do that! You want to attract somethin'?" Shane walked over to their truck, staring at the group. The older man had stepped up from behind them. "It's alright. This areas too big for anything to exactly pinpoint us." Everyone turned towards the older man and his five younger companions. "Who are you?" Shane questioned, taking the lead as he stood in front of most of the group. Daryl climbing out of the bed of the truck, followed by Savannah to stand amongst the many group but all three of the ex-Holsten residence standing off to the side more.
"I'm Dale. This is Andrea, Amy, Jim, Jacqui and Glenn. We're from Atlanta. Well...were from Atlanta. We barely got out." He explained, his voice breaking lightly as he spoke. Shane stared at them before nodding as if accepting their story as believable. "Shane Walsh. This is Lori and Carl." Quick smiles were exchanged before the rest looked towards the other members. "Theodore but you can call me, T-Dog." "Morales. This is my wife, Miranda, my son, Louis, and my daughter, Eliza." "Ed. This is Carol and Sophia." Shy, barely visible waves were seen behind the bulky figure of the man before everyone turned to face the three standing off towards the side.
The two men appearing like rabid pit bulls. Unfriendly, unwelcoming. Unable to accept that they were truly there amongst the people that seemed so easy to accept others. Savannah stepped forward. "I'm Savannah. This is Merle an' Daryl Dixon." She introduced the three of them, giving the others a small smile. The others giving small ones back. "Nice to meet some more survivors. Not sure how many people got out of Atlanta." "We didn't even get to Atlanta. We were on the Interstate when...when they dropped the bombs." Shane explained, the smiles dropping from all of their lips. "Lucky that I remembered comin' here as a kid or we're not sure where we'd all be."
"Oh. All of you know each other?" Amy questioned them and quickly received shakes of heads. "Nah. We met up on the interstate. We met briefly an' I told them to follow me." Savannah mentally nodded her head. See? Saving the Damsels in Distress. Definite cop.
"Maybe we should all set up camp here. Seems like a good area. Too far for Geeks and close enough for when the military clears up the city, they'll find us." Glenn offered up. The rest of his group nodding their heads. Shane and his wife and son nodded. Followed by agreements from Morales, T-dog and the Peletier family. Daryl and Merle said nothing, just grunting and turning back towards their truck.
"Geeks?" T-dog questioned, raising his eyebrow. "Yeah. Walkers. Zombies. Those things." Glenn clarified on his choice of words for the creatures. And No one commenting on the fact that Glenn appeared like a stereotypical geek himself.
"Let's gather supplies. See what everyone has. Food, Water, blankets, weapons and tents." And so they did exactly that.
Within a few hours as it hit noon on Dale's watch, everything was separated. Canned foods were packed away in Dale's RV along with extra blankets. The water was split up evenly amongst the 'households' as Savannah started calling them. The largest of the tents were given to the bigger families. The smaller separated between the rest. Dale, Jim and Glenn would share the RV while Amy and Andrea got the smallest of the tents since they were family. But the oddest part of it was when Shane got his own tent. Savannah, being a spare like the rest in the RV, would sleep in the bed of the truck beside the Dixon tent. The men agreeing to set up a make-shift tent above the bed of the truck so that she was protected for the most part.
"Are you two serious right now? How hard is it to set up a tent?" Savannah called to Daryl and Merle as they struggled to set up their tent. "Fuck you princess. Ain't our fuckin' tent anyway. Had to give it up to some Mexican. Take his shitty ass one." Merle shouted to her as he used the butt of his shot gun to hammer the peg into the ground. Daryl's hands jerking back whenever his brother would miss, growling out a swear as he threatened to shove the peg up Merle's ass if he didn't watch it. "So? Ain't it Redneck 101 on how to set up a tent?" "We don't need comments. Shut up. Go find somethin' to do instead of sittin' there 'n' bein' useless." Daryl told her, growling as the butt of the gun hit his wrist before he shoved his brother onto his ass, grabbing the weapon from him to do it himself.
Savannah huffed, jumping down from the truck as she glanced around to see who was the least busy. She wandered about, asking anyone if they needed help but received a "no" from each person. She frowned, scratching the back of her neck before sitting down by the fire pit. "Hey. Savannah, right?" She glanced up, meeting the older, friendly eyes of Dale."Yeah, that's me." she watched as he eased the beach chair around, putting it beside her before sitting down in it, staring forward at the mountains. "How are you doing? With everything…" Savannah just shrugged. She wasn't doing that well but showing weakness now would be like giving herself to the walkers. "I'm alright. As good as one can get in this situation." She told him, not turning to look at him.
"You're okay? Even with them two?" Dale glanced towards the two she had arrived with. They appeared to be the wilderness type. Backwoods, unsociable and violent. They had tossed a few weapons the camps way but other than that kept the rest for themselves, definitely the protect your own type. "They're fine. You just don't know 'em." She explained. She didn't exactly know Merle but she knew Daryl well enough to trust him...to an extent. "You grew up with them?" Savannah turned towards him. "Listen, I know we're going to be near each other for a while but I really don' wanna talk about who I grew up with right now an' have a camp fire moment. I grew up near 'em. That's all anybody needs to know." She hissed, her chest puffing up. "There are other people here in need of your therapy. I ain't one of 'em." Dale looked at her in surprise, looking shocked that she wasn't willing to share, just like her partners.
"I wasn't trying to offer my therapy. Just asking. Everybody needs a friend, even at the end of the world." He told her, reaching over to pat her shoulder before standing up, moving his way back into the RV. She glanced around, seeing several of her new companions looking at her in surprise. She grunted, standing up and stalking over to the declared Dixon area. "Stupid idiots." She muttered, earning a raised eyebrow from the brothers as she got into the front seat, slamming the door shut behind her.
Water filled her eyes as she stared out the windshield. Her hands raising to roughly wipe away the drops of tears as they moved their way down her cheeks. Her head leaning forward to rest against the steering wheel. She wanted to go home, be with her family. She was gripping her dirty blonde locks, heavy on the dirty, pulling lightly as she took deep breaths to get herself under control. It wasn't fair.
She jumped when she heard a knock on the door. Her head lifting to glance at the man named Jim. "Hey." "Hey." She muttered, wiping away another tear that got loose before he opened the door. "Come on with me. You can help me collect some fire wood." He told her, looking oddly friendly for having such a stoic face. She looked at him in surprise but slide out of the car, not glancing at anyone as she was led a bit farther from the group.
The two staying quiet for the most part as they gathered twigs and sticks. "You know, I was with my wife and kids when this all started. Thought we'd be safe in Atlanta." He grunted as he bent to pick up another stick. "'Couple weeks ago, my part of town got infected but no one really knew it yet until they got us. My neighbors' screams woke me and my family up. Horrifying creatures. My wife went and got the kids while I got my huntin' gun. Me and my father-in-law went huntin' a couple times when we weren't workin' at the garage. I'm a mechanic, ya'know. We were almost to the car when I was shoved into the hood of the car. We got over run. Too many of them. I could hear my kids crying and screaming. My wife begging for help but I couldn't do anything. I was shooting' but I couldn't get them in the head. It was too late." His voice cracked as he continued to gather wood. "I got out okay. Barely. I drove into the main area of Atlanta where I knew the Military was and I met up with Dale. Helped him fix up his RV for a while until we had to flee last night. We got Andrea, Amy and Glenn along the way. Picked Jacqui up on the way out" He explained his story as they stood still finally.
Tears were dripping down her cheeks, her shoulders shaking with sobs as he put his bunch of wood down, taking her's from her and putting them in the pile. "What I'm trying' to tell you is that, without that distraction, without Dale's or Amy's or Andrea's or even Glenn's help, I wouldn't of survived this long. You have to allow yourself to be open to others right now." He reached out, resting his hands on her shoulders as her sob collected a few glances from the other campers.
" Seeing your family like that. It's not somethin' you forget but it's something you use. Use it and let it keep you alive. When you see one of those things, use that sight of your family to kill it. Let us be your new family, your new support. It'll help. You can't keep it bottled up forever or you'll take that gun one day and put it to your own head." He whispered to her, gently tugging her forward before she was against his chest. Her loud, muffled sobs covering the open area as most of the campers stopped, watching them from the distance as the girl let loose her heartbreak. Jim's arms surrounding her as he patted her back.
Daryl and Merle watched from their tent with a frown as they watched the girl receive open arms from the man and probably the rest of the campers at the sight. "Get back to work." Merle told Daryl, yanking the weapon from him. Daryl watching for a second longer until she was guided into the RV before Setting up the next tent peg. It going in much easier as their slight anger and almost…rejecting guided them to continue their task.
Day Eight
It took the entire day of Day Seven for everyone to get fully settled and comfortable. Or as comfortable as people could get. People had blankets fixed in their tents for sleeping. A schedule was made between volunteers for watches throughout the day. It was decided to one person from each family would offer assistance for Day or night watch. Shane, Morales, Dale, Glenn, Merle, Andrea, T-dog and Ed were all taking shifts as decided. Shane, Dale, Glenn and Andrea would take night shifts, alternating between every four to six hours that passed. Andrea and Dale would take the first night. Morales, Merle, T-dog and Ed would take Day shift, doing the same thing. There was a post set up on top of the RV, consisting of a beach chair and umbrella to block the sun. Food and drinks would be taken up to them and someone would take over if they needed to use the bathroom.
Times were set for food time as well. 9-10 AM would be breakfast/lunch unless there was a low food supply, then it would just be dinner at 7-8 PM. Mostly everyone being in bed by 9 PM. Everyone asked if there were any experienced and skilled hunters amongst the group. The only ones being Daryl and Merle with Savannah and Jim having some. With Merle on watch duty and Jim working on cars. It would be up to Savannah and Daryl to hunt within reason for food. No one went anywhere without a 'buddy, as Dale called it. Anybody else that was left in the camp during the day would be in charge of regular duties. Washing clothes, cooking, collecting fire wood, and so on. Savannah even offered her teaching skills to Carol, Morales and Lori when she received a chance, which everyone except Ed accepted. Not one camper would be without a chore or something to do.
As for baths, they had the pond and it was decided that people would either go in groups or families. The Peletier family would go as a family. Morales' family as well. Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Savannah, and Lori all agreed to go together while Daryl and Merle would go by themselves. The rest of the men and Carl would go together. That way, the camp was never fully unattended and everyone would have a 'buddy' to bathe with. They all felt like they were on a field trip again with the term.
It was near four pm when it was Savannah's time to bath with the other women. Each of them had taken clothes from a male of the group. At least until they got around to washing their own clothes tomorrow. Savannah having stolen a pair of Daryl's boxers and one of his sleeveless shirts from his bag that he had packed before they abandoned town. Lori, Andrea and Amy all were borrowing some from Dale, Shane and Glenn. A spare blanket would be used to dry off with and hung out to dry for the next group to use. With the guidance of Shane, they were led down to the lake. One of the Dixon's guns placed in Savannah's hands since she was the only one with experience before he turned to head back up towards the campsite. The women quickly stripped down to their panties and bras before they slowly walked into the lake.
Savannah trembled as the cool lake surrounded her warm, sweat layered body. "Oh jesus." She dove under the surface, appearing again a couple seconds later. "I think I just orgasmed." Andrea spoke up, earning a laugh from the rest of the women. "I think I smell like Merle." Savannah grunted out, rubbing her hands over her face and neck as she moved closer to shore. "Rotten?" Amy questioned. Savannah grinned before nodding with a soft shrug. "Pretty much."
They all became silent as they rubbed their hands over their bodies, using them to help the water ease away dirt and grime that had built up over the past couple days. Savannah scrubbing her face clean and dunking herself under the surface to run her fingers through her hair before she surfaced again. One by one, they all moved from the water, using the blanket to dry before the next one followed out. The women in their underwear sitting down on the largest of the rocks to dry a bit more as they stared across the lake. "Peaceful." Amy stated as she took her seat beside Andrea and Savannah. "mm" Savannah agreed, watching the small ripples before she closed her eyes, her fingers holding the shot gun against her thigh as she leaned her head back.
"So Lori, why don't you and Shane share a tent? You guys separated?" Amy asked curiously, glancing over at the mature women. "Me and Shane aren't together. My Husband...He died when this all started. He was in a hospital from a shooting. Shane's his best friend and partner." she explained, making them all look towards her in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry." Andrea said, smacking Amy in the thigh for being noisy. Lori chuckled softly. "It's alright. It's probably better he went before this. At least he doesn't have to witness it." They all fell quiet at that, staring over the lake again before Savannah stood up. "Alright, let's get dressed and get back." They all dressed. Savannah quickly pulling the pair of boxers over her legs and yanking on Daryl's shirt before she tugged her boots back on. "Go on." She told the women, coming up behind them as they walked back up the path towards the camp. The rest of the campers already having the last bit of bread and cans of beans out over the fire.
She gave the shot gun back to Shane as he neared her before she walked over to the Dixon tent, standing in front of the brothers. "Hey." They greeted her with a grunt, glancing up from their seats on the ground "Is that my shi-" "Why don't ya'll come over there an' eat?" She questioned, watching as Merle's nose scrunched up as if he tasted somethin' bad."Why would I wanna eat wit 'em? Bunch of chinks, blacks and Mexicans. Ain't what i wanna see when I eat. Might puke it up." He didn't hide his words, keeping them loud enough for some other campers to hear. "If they want us so bad to eat wit 'em, why ain't they askin', 'stead of you?" Daryl questioned with a stoic expression.
Savannah looked at them but grunted, shaking her head as she turned to go over towards the pit. Grabbing two slices of bread and two paper cups of beans, knowing that both of them were too stubborn and proud to actually approach the group for food. Her hands juggling them as she carried it over to the tent. "Eat it." She didn't give them a chance to reject it as she put the cups down on the ground and the bread in their laps, knowing neither would turn away the food before she moved back towards the fire, joining the others for dinner while finishing drying up from the heat the lowering sun and fire gave off.