Chapter Six
The next day and a half seemed to fly by so quickly that it took Naomi a while to realise that it was actually a Wednesday and when she did she realised just how much time became non-existent to her. No longer did Naomi stare at the clock on her wall and wonder how much longer she would have to go before the tasks that she had set for herself would be over. The only concept of time was when the sun rose and set. There was something almost freeing about that. She didn't have to conform into the real world life anymore; Naomi could just be. That was one of the good things about the world ending. That, and most days she got to sleep in.
"Funny how time flies when you're doing work," Amy had grunted when her friend mentioned how fast the days were moving past them.
Naomi couldn't help but to chew her lip, a nervous twitch and tap at her leg whenever she was with Amy at that moment. It became increasingly hard for her to stay positive about the run team when all she had was Amy constantly in her ear saying that things had gone wrong. The blonde was just a ball of stress in the last few days. It felt like walking on eggshells around her; as if one wrong word of encouragement would tip her over the edge. Naomi got it though. It wasn't like she would be as cool as a cucumber if it were her brother out there. She wasn't feeling that great with her best friend Glenn being out there but there wasn't really much that she could do about that.
As the day of Wednesday continued to roll on, Naomi found herself sitting in the dirt and playing with her brother. She sought a distraction, something that she didn't have to think about or try to do something to make better. That was exactly what it was like playing with her little brother. Mindless pushing around of toy cars. How Naomi longed for the return of her childhood innocence. Maybe that would help to shield her from the horrors of the new world the way that it seemed to do with Carl. Either way, it was fun to just do something and forget about all of their problems. That was until they just decided to follow you around until you had to address them head on. Fortunately, they hadn't caught up to her just yet. She was successfully distracting herself from the put of worry that was trying its hardest to suffocate her.
Usually Morales' children and Sophia would play with Carl but Miranda wanted her kids close without her husbands' presence which was understandable. Carol wouldn't allow Sophia to play because the mother was black and blue from her arsehole of a husband. Naomi had noticed the rush that Carol possessed when pulling on her cardigan. She had seen the marks that marred her arms and undeniably other places as well.
While it made her sick that it was happening, there wasn't much that she could do. Naomi wasn't strong, she couldn't handle that. She wondered why Shane or any of the other strong people that lived in their camp wouldn't do anything about it. It wasn't as if it were hidden behind closed doors. It was quite obvious and yet Naomi felt paralysed by her own selfish fears to do anything about it.
Nevertheless, this left Naomi to entertain her brother, which she really didn't mind at all. She loved her brother and his company so much and would spend all day with him if she wasn't expected to pitch in and contribute to the running of the camp.
Lori had disappeared into the woods while telling the members of the camp that she was out looking for mushrooms. While Naomi had the task of keeping her brother occupied, their mother had the hard job of trying to distract Amy. The only way that she could seem to make her do that was by saying that they would make soup for lunch. And because Amy's second favourite soup was mushrooms, Lori set out to find some in the forest. There was bound to be some there. Her absolute favourite was lentil soup but seeing as there was no way that they would be able to get lentils from the forest; they had to go with her second.
It was a nice thing Lori was doing, her maternal instinct was kicking in and without Andrea there she had seemed to take Amy under her wing. That was something that Naomi admired about her mother, while she may get side-tracked occasionally, she always came back to her kids. She was almost always there for them.
Though as Naomi watched her go, she couldn't help but feel as if her mother wasn't just venturing out into the unknown dangerous forest for some mushrooms. She had been having a conversation of looks with Shane and he had gone out not five minutes before. Naomi knew what was happening and anger was silently bubbling up in her chest. She tried to keep it down but it was there. Her father was dead and she didn't want anyone to take his place in their lives. Anyone.
It was nothing against Shane, she just didn't think that she could deal with a replacement father figure that was also fucking her mum. She understood how much her mum missed her husband but it didn't make it right. At least now she was being more discreet and mindful about the situation. At least now there would be less of a chance that Carl would find out and snap. The boy was already fragile enough. He didn't need anything more added onto it. And Naomi wouldn't be able to live with herself if she contributed to his pain.
Impatient of waiting for Lori to come back, Amy stood up from her spot near the pot of boiling water over the campfire and walked to Naomi and Carl.
"It's late, they should have been back by now!" She exclaimed, looking down at Naomi expectantly to which she sighed.
Amy was right, they were definitely supposed to be back by now but what was she to do? It wasn't like she could see into the future and reassure everyone that they were alright and were safe. There was nothing that she could do, she was once again a sitting duck.
"I know," Naomi simply said.
From the corner of her eye, Shane and Lori both made it back to camp together. Naomi patted Carl's back as he stood and rushed over to the two, a spring in his step as per usual. Standing up, Naomi didn't follow after him though, she stood by Amy and tried her hardest to wipe the dirt from her jeans that Naomi knew would stain.
From the radio that was sitting on a blanket on a block of wood, a crackling sound broke through both of the speakers on the side of the contraption.
"Hel-lo b-b-b-base-camp!" It was crackly due to the poor reception though it drew everyone's attention to it as they all looked over to the old box radio with surprise on their faces.
"Can anybody hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog, can anybody hear me?"
A large portion of the group rushed towards the things but Dale was the first to pick it up and reply. Excitement filled the air around them, Amy was hanging on to Naomi's arm as they both stood and watched as he fiddled around to the right setting so that people would be able to hear him.
"Hello, hello! Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat."
Dale once again fiddled with the signal trying to gain a better range but having no such luck as the thing crackled back to life, "W-we-tra…we're tapped in the department store."
The atmosphere that was once filled with hope fell and everyone looked around as if silently asking whether they were hearing the same thing. They all were.
"They saying they're trapped?" Shane asked, rather bummed out as he scrubbed at the back of his curly head of hair.
"Geeks are surrounding us, we're trapped in!"
"T repeat that last, repeat," There was no reply and the urgency that was in Dale's voice wasn't resolved, it never ended and there was no other reply from the people on the run in Atlanta.
Amy was shaking her head, it looked as if she were about to run, though Naomi wasn't sure where to and placed what she thought was a comforting hand on her shoulder in order to try to calm her down. Not that that would have worked anyway. Nothing seemed to go right for any of them in that moment. The pressure was on.
When she looked over to her mother for reassurance, all she got was the mother put her hands on her hips and stare over at Shane as if he was the solution to all of their problems. But he was scratching the back of his head. Again. He must have one itchy head if he repetitively continued to do it.
Her mother spoke up, "He said the department store."
"I heard it too."
"Shane…" Lori started trying to tell him that they needed to do something to help but she was cut off by the man himself who knew that there was nothing that they could do. Much to the others' dismay.
"No way. We do not go after them. We do not risk the rest of the group, ya'll know that."
"So we're just gonna leave her there?" Amy asked, panic rising in her voice as she looked around at the others for support. No one knew what to do, Shane was their leader, he wouldn't do anything to purposely put them in danger.
Shane looked away for a second, gathering his thoughts, "Amy I know this is not easy."
"She volunteered to go, to help the rest of us!"
Naomi stepped forward as well, a scowl set on her lips, "Yeah so did Glenn. We owe it to them to at least try!"
Shane nodded his head solemnly but did not budge on his stance, "I know, but she knew the risks, hell, they all did. So if they're trapped…they're gone."
Naomi had never seen Shane being so insensitive and he definitely hit a nerve in her as she sucked in a breath of dismay. Apparently it did to Amy as well, because, as she was on the verge of tears, she stepped forward towards him, anger shining in her crystal blue eyes. He needed to think before he spoke, that was for sure. The people out there were risking their lives for them and he didn't want to lend a helping hand when they obviously needed it.
"So we just have to deal with that. There's nothing we can do."
Amy stared at him with such hatred that Naomi wondered for a while whether or not she would actually punch him, "She's my sister you son of a bitch," She told him with such ferocity that spit flew out of her mouth and made a beeline for him.
After saying that, she turned on her heel, her blonde hair flicking around her like flames that had lost all colour and stormed away from him. Her fists were clenched tightly. Naomi watched on in shock as Lori looked to Shane like she used to look at her dad when they fought.
Naomi turned to Shane and shot him a glare. He would be an insensitive son of a bitch sometimes and now was not the time to start being one. He needed to be the wise leader that they wanted and needed to live with. She had never before felt so disgusted as she stared at him. She never blamed anything that was going on between him and her mum but she drew the line at being flat out mean. With a glare directed right at him, Naomi turned and ran after her mother and Amy, desperate to flee the scene that had just sealed the others fate.
The three ended up sitting together in Lori and Carl's tent. Amy was a balling mess which hurt Naomi to see. The mother and daughter duo set out to make the blonde feel better and to distract her. Pain was obviously something that Amy wasn't that good at dealing with. Especially the grief type of pain. It just showed how much Amy loved her sister. And how much it affected her made everyone feel remorseful.
Eventually Dale managed to coax Amy out by the prospect of food which she declined at first and then decided that it was a good idea to eat. Lori and Naomi were left to potter around aimlessly. Her mother got Carl to sit down so that she could cut his hair. When Naomi sat with them and poked fun at the youngest, Lori threatened to cut her hair as well. She planned out everything, saying that she would give her a fringe just like she did on accident in the second grade. Traumatised, Naomi shook her head and shut up almost instantly which made Lori smirk at her daughter as she smoothed out Carl's hair that was getting a little too long for her liking. When her mother concentrated on making the first snip, Naomi poked her tongue out at her little brother making him glare up at her with no malice in his features.
Shane made his way over to them like a dog with its tail between its legs, his hand scrubbing at the back of his head. He held his precious shot gun in his grasp and looked over to Naomi as if he were a child apologising to a teacher after interrupting the class.
"Look, Naomi I'm sorry for what I said but you have to understand that we can't risk any more people going out there and getting hurt."
Naomi refused to make eye contact and nodded her head even though she didn't like what she was hearing. She was tired of trying to battle people when she knew that she would never win against. Trying to do the right thing, Naomi reached over and grabbed the fold out chair that was in its fold up position against her chair and opened it, patting the seat for him to sit down in. He smiled at her notion and plopped down in it, pulling apart his gun to clean the barrel of his gun. Lori and Shane made small talk while Naomi made faces at Carl so that he wasn't so bored when their mum took the longest time in cutting his hair. All that Naomi was doing was trying to distract herself from feeling what she knew was to come if they didn't return back to base camp.
All of the sudden a shrill noise filled the air. Shane shot to his feet instantly, walking towards Dale who had reached for his pair of binoculars. From his position on the top of his RV, he had the best vantage point and lookout.
"Talk to me Dale," He said, running over to the RV so that he could get a clearer answer.
Dale spared a look from his binoculars to shout down at the people below, "I can't tell yet," His brow was creased in a determined concentration.
"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked, a tinge of excitement still lingering in her voice.
"Well I'll be damned," She heard Dale mutter.
Naomi's heart started pumping fast in her chest against her ribcage, "What is it?"
"Stolen car would be my guess."
They all watched in panic as the car rounded the corner and pulled in, instantly relieving Naomi's worry as Glenn's head of black hair came into view and then she saw his face. He looked happy and proud of himself. But he didn't get any time to be greeted as he stepped out of the vehicle, car alarm still going off loudly. It was echoing in the hills. He was bombarded with questions and demands so quickly that it was even hard for Naomi to process what was going on.
"Pop the hood please."
"Turn that damn thing off."
"Andrea, my sister, is she alright?"
"Pop the damn hood!" Shane yelled impatiently, exasperated that the beeping sound was still reverberating in his eardrums and probably everyone else's for the next few hours it was that loud and annoying.
"Yes, yes, yes." Glenn exclaimed, reaching into the car and pressing the button that allowed the hood to be pulled up. He then relieved Amy, saying that everyone was alright but Dixon.
It seemed that the Korean couldn't catch a break because as soon as the alarms stopped, Shane turned on him. He was yelling about how stupid the man was to have the alarms on while driving up to their camp. While Dale pretty much said the same thing, his approach was calmer which seemed to get through to Glenn more.
His only response was, "Sorry…I got a cool car though."
Naomi smiled and pulled him into a hug. Words or actions couldn't even begin to explain what it felt like to have her best friend back in view. It was such a great feeling and a large weight off of her chest.
A cube van shortly pulled up behind them which Naomi guessed contained the rest of the people on the run and she couldn't help but smile to see Amy rush over and embrace Andrea. The two hugged it out long and hard, it looked as if they had been separated for years the way that they clung to one another. Morales ran to his ecstatic family and it was all resolved.
A frown did take over her features though as she looked over and saw her little brother with tears leaking out of his eyes. It was quite obvious that the boy missed their father. Naomi couldn't help but feel the same way. Families were reuniting and it still felt as if a huge chunk of hers was missing. She guessed that it became easier with time because it had to, she couldn't deal with the empty part of her soul that ached for her father.
Naomi cleared her throat and tried to move on with talking, "How'd you get out of there anyway?" She asked, staring at her little brother as their mum got down on her knees to console Carl.
Her heart ached again. Glenn reached out and linked his hand with hers. She relished the comfort that came with the silent support and looked at him with a brief and forced smile as she awaited an answer from those who just arrived.
Glenn answered, "New guy."
"New guy?" Shane asked with a scowl. He didn't like the prospect of a new person coming into their group at this point. He liked it the way it was just fine.
Morales nodded, arms still wrapped lovingly around his family, "Yeah new guy just came into the city. Hey Helicopter Boy, come say hello! He's a cop just like you," He chimed in enthusiastically.
Hearing the comment about the new guy being a cop made her heart ache even more. She already had to deal with one man that had the same profession as her dad and she didn't need another one there. Naomi just had to suck it up. There was no room for her to be selfish in this life.
A door swung open, the passenger side that was out of her view. The man stepped into her vision and her blood run cold as it pumped around her veins. Everything that was being said stopped being processed.
Her father, Rick Grimes stood awkwardly by the cube van looking down at his feet.
With wide eyes filled with disbelief, Naomi forced herself to close her eyes. It was the sun, an illusion playing tricks on her vision. It couldn't possibly be her father. He was dead. He died. She must have been hallucinating. That was it. Sunstroke caused hallucinations and it wasn't exactly as if she had stayed in the shade for the past few days either.
When she opened them back up again she expected to see a different man standing before her. She was more than surprised when he was still standing there, looking as strong as ever. Reality was playing cruel tricks on her. How could he be there? Standing right in front of her. Rick Grimes was the New Guy and Helicopter Boy.
Rick Grimes looked straight at her with an expression that she couldn't even begin to pinpoint. Carl turned his head and saw his father standing there, the boy ran with a smile on his face, yelling that that was his dad. His dad was alive. Naomi's dad was alive and standing before them. Time started speeding up again and their father dropped to his knees to embrace his son with tears streaming down his face.
Every instinct in her body screamed at her to run to him like Carl and Lori had done but she was paralysed with shock. She couldn't seem to move. Glenn, who was still holding her hand looked on at the scene in awe until he realised that she was standing next to him when she should be with her family. He squeezed her palm with his fingers but she didn't turn to look at him, her eyes were glued to Rick Grimes as if he would just disappear if she even let her view falter for a second.
"Go to them Naomi," He whispered into her ear, letting go of her hand and pushing her forward.
That was all that she needed to start moving again and she was stumbling towards him, the waterworks starting. Rick met her halfway, he had gotten up from the ground and was moving towards his daughter who he longed to hold in his arms again.
"Daddy," Naomi breathed as she finally fell into his arms, his warm embrace felt like home.
She clung onto him tightly, not wanting to let him go and for him to disappear again. Sobs escaped her mouth and it did the same to him. Carl squeezed in between the two of them and Lori hang on the end of Rick, her arm going around her daughter to pull them all in closer. That was what her family was like, dysfunctional but at the same time, Naomi couldn't help but to feel like everything that she was missing out on was solved and everything felt complete. The hole in her heart that was shaped as her father was filled and all that she felt was a warmness of support from her family. The feeling was unexplainable.